A Soul in Exile
by AfroSamurai98
Summary: AU. Richard Castle. A legend in Con Ops. Now a top assassin for the U.S. government. Then a hit goes wrong. He refuses to Kill. Now on the run he encounters a runaway who changes his life forever. Secrets are revealed. And love is born again. *Chapter 11: Special Agent Nikki Heat.*
1. Mission: Biscuits and A Cup of Tea

**Summary:** AU. When the military can't get the job done. Enter Richard Castle, A top assassin trained to kill from the shadows and vanish into thin air. Until a mission comes along where he fails to eliminate the target, a mother and her child. He refuses to kill. But in a flash the mother dies right in front of his eyes by another snipers rifle. Now on the run he comes across a runaway whose murdered parents might be connected to the target he refused to kill. Castle now may have to come out of the shadows to protect this woman with his life and find out what exactly happened to set these chain of events off.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Sitting in a navy suit on a first class flight to London. Richard Castle fit right in. Going for the cliché rich business man look was one of his specialties he thought. Well that or his impersonation of an arms dealer. _Concentrate_ he thought to himself. His imaginative mind always interrupted him during missions and as much as he appreciated imagination in his line of work, it can also get you killed. Pretending to check his email on his laptop, his eyes kept darting to the two male figures a couple of seats in front of him. If the intel was right from D.C., these two were the king pins in the European sex and drug trade.

The flight was in route to London from Amsterdam and in about twenty-five minutes it would be landing in Heathrow. The cab ride from the airport to the hotel the two gentlemen would be staying in would take about thirty minutes. Plenty of time he mused looking out the window.

As they exited the plane he kept a safe distance from the targets but keeping them in his sights in case they felt threatened and made a break for it. Approximately thirty-minutes later the two targets exited the airport and quickly made their way to an already awaiting limo. The normal procedure would be to tail them but knowing which hotel they would be staying in, he didn't have to worry much.

Or maybe an analyst had hacked into the targets cell phones and checked their itinerary for the day. _Bartowski_ would always be his man in Washington.

Renting a Mini Cooper, Castle made his way to the hotel right across the street from the hotel the targets were staying in. He had made reservations on the third floor which gave a direct view of the two rooms the targets were currently residing in. Showing his ID to a blonde receptionist he carried his suitcase to his room and did a quick search for bugs or hidden cameras. A queen size bed lay in the middle of the room. _Sleep_ he thought. _Nightmares_.

Nightmares and sleepless nights is what one got for the things he had done throughout his life.

Richard Castle was a solid one hundred and eighty five pound man standing at a height of six feet two. He was a perfect example of a solid musculature that relied heavily upon the quickness of his arms and strength as well as endurance he had built over the years. However, one feature of his body was not perfect, his knee. He had broken it due to a mistake he had made once. Due to the miracle of modern medical sciences he could have gotten it fixed but he didn't. He never makes mistakes. Loathes them. He was a perfectionist, always was and always will be. It did give him problems but to him it was reminder that even a perfectionist can make a mistake and he never wanted to forget that. It made him feel _human_. Unlike most military personnel with marine buzz cuts- he kept his hair wavy and pleasing to the eye. His face was something he was even proud of, sharply defined with a smile that made women's knees wobble. Not that he smiled much. Not since that day. That day had taken his smiles, his happiness and his soul.

Through the years he had accumulated various scars on his body. To cover those he had acquired two quite complex tattoos on his body. The first one, which was a tribal design made by an Indian tribal member he had met in western Arizona, covered his upper left torso. The Indian tribesmen applied a special paint over it and explained that the tattoo represented serenity and in times of stress it calmed ones nerves. He wasn't a spiritual person but at that time it sounded believable to him. To this day he still wonders how the old man had persuaded him to get the tattoo. The second was merely to cover the nasty gash scar he had acquired during his con ops stint in the Middle East. It was a Japanese symbol for 'samurai'. He loved comic books as a kid and still does as an adult; he had not lost himself completely. He couldn't resist the temptation of getting something that reminded of the innocence that was his childhood. What he would give to be snuggled in his mother's arms again with a good comic book.

He looked at his phone to check the time and noticed that in a couple of days he would be turning the age of thirty five. It bought a rare smile to his face as he reminisced the times when his fiancé would try to hide the surprise party from him each year. The party would consist of close friends, family members and towards midnight it would just be the two of them with a bottle of wine and her in an irresistible lingerie. _Concentrate_ he thought to himself as he closed his eyes again trying to fish out the past memories from his head. He had not come to England for leisure. He had come here to do his job.

He pushed himself off the ridiculously comfortable bed to make himself some coffee. The only drug he allowed himself to digest. His eyes darted across the room again which was a small, sufficient, and purposefully designed for the modern business man. He did not require much and with only a suitcase in his possession, he required and liked less.

Sipping his coffee he made his way to the window which provided an ample view of London and pressed his forehead to the glass. It was a gloomy day with grey skies overhead. It was usually like this time of year in London and personally it was the perfect day for the act he was about to commit in a few hours.

To his left he saw the eye of London, a giant Ferris wheel, representing the modernity of London and near it would be the Buckingham Palace which he could not see but he knew it was there. He had visited London enough times to know it was there.

Checking his phone again. Another three hours to go.

Staring at the TV screen for what seemed like an eternity his phone vibrated indicating that it was time. He quickly changed his attire and exited the room. He made his way to a small coffee shop located next to the hotel the targets were currently staying in and decided to order a light meal with orange juice. As he ate he looked around and saw a child performing on a unicycle entertaining on looking tourists. Another one, a middle aged man, was juggling any object that was tossed to him.

Finishing up his meal, he walked towards the famous banks of Thames River. As he approached the river he could see the Clock Tower towering over the hemisphere and the London Bridge connecting the two land masses together. Sitting down on one of the benches, he closed his eyes and breathed in the gloomy but still bustling air of the English capital. To clear his head he performed an mental exercise old Japanese soldiers did before they headed off to battle. Opening his eyes again he felt light weight and his mind felt at ease. Finally getting up he stretched his limbs, popped a few bones in his hands and shoulders.

Age was creeping up on him.

He was even starting to think like an old man. He was only thirty four. Imagine being forty or fifty. If he lived to see those days.

He checked the clock tower.

Four more hours.

Giving London a one last look, he headed down the main street.

Spotting another coffee place he decided for a cuppa. He needed the boost. Or that he just loved coffee more than any other beverage he consumed.

An hour later he passed the sign for the tour of the London Underground. It was strictly for adults and conducted once at midnight and in the wee hours of night. Checking the digital clock through the window of a local pub. It was almost show time. Castle had like any other assassin had memorized the steps leading to the kill. He had memorized every turn, every move, every camera, every shop and every move he had to make the mission a successful hit.

And to live of course.

Praying to a higher power, if there was one, that it was enough to make him see the light of day again.

Ten minutes later he passed a woman who nodded at him. A slight dip of the head. He looked towards the direction the woman had arrived from and made his way to a doorway the woman had exited from. Entering the doorway he walked for a mere two minutes until he noticed a wooden door towards the end. Opening the door and locking it. He looked around the room and saw a small suitcase placed on a desk in the middle of room. _Classic_. Opening the suitcase revealed an arsenal of things he required to get the job done.

Leather gloves. A pair of goggles with night vision installed. A glock 23 with a suppressor placed near it. And his personal favorite, two custom griffin knives.

Getting his gear set up around his body. He checked his phone again every few minutes and waited patiently in the room like a predator did for its prey.

His phone vibrated which indicated that it was time to leave the premises. He exited the room and made towards the entrance of the doorway. Walking for another ten minutes left of the doorway; he reached a grate in the footpath. He looked around and carefully opened it revealing a darkened passageway underneath. Jumping inside and landing softly he was now underneath London. Surprisingly it was quite dark (probably to scare the tourists with local lore) and with panther like movements he swiftly moved through the passageways with his night vision goggles on until he reached a corner to check if he was being followed or being watched.

Checking his phone again. He reminded himself to invest in a new watch. Or not. The glow light of his last watch had nearly killed him once.

Fifteen more minutes. Sweat was now slowly building up on his forehead.

He started walking again with slow steps, synchronizing his steps so he could reach his destination on time.

Listening closely he heard the voice of the guide before he saw them all.

In total they were nine people excluding the couple and the guide. _Nine. _The couple and the guide were expected but the two targets hiring body guards were as well. He had taken on more and he was not aborting this one. They may never get another chance like this. If the guards were good, they would know this would be a perfect place for an ambush. And they would be right.

But he had to say that as kingpins it was really a stupid mistake on their behalf to come down here. For it would be their last.


	2. In the Name of What is Good

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

_In total they were nine people excluding the couple and the guide. Nine. The couple and the guide were expected but the two targets hiring body guards were as well. He had taken on more and he was not abandoning this one. They may never get another chance like this. If the guards were good, they would know this would be a perfect place for an ambush. And they would be right._

_But he had to say that as kingpins it was really a stupid mistake on their behalf to come down here. For it would be their last. _

* * *

**Chapter 2**

If his internal clock was right the group would be heading towards a right corner in a few seconds while Castle positioned himself towards the end of the passageway. The margin of error was not feasible in his mind as the timing was so tight. Castle waited patiently and exactly ten seconds later the guide appeared out of the corner. The guide was almost the same height as him, a little on the chubby side, and had the same jacket on as Castle had on. The guide was a little ahead of the group and had a flashlight illuminating the passageway. _Shit_. He quickly turned around so only his back was visible to the group. He didn't like his back exposed to the bodyguards but it had be done if his plan were to succeed. The guards also carried flashlights and they would see that Castle was not one of the guides. Employees did not wear night vision goggles. Taking a deep breath he started moving forward.

As the guide's flashlight swept the room it eventually landed on Castle's back. Then he heard the gasps from the group resonate the now silent passageway. In the silence he could feel their smells, the sweat, the cologne they had put on and the smell of fear.

Or who knows it might even be his life, depending on how this went along.

Then taking another deep breath he turned around with one hand on the glock. It was time.

As he turned he noticed the bodyguards had taken their positions just as he had thought they would. Rather than the glock he took out his knife and with the precision like that of a professional archer took out the point man with a direct hit to his forehead. The stunned man was dead before he even hit the floor. Quickly taking out his glock he shot the man next to the point man right in the face. Suppressed gun shots sounded in the passageway like droplets of water dripping in an empty bucket. The sounds echoed deep throughout the passageways mixed with screams of dying men and a hysterical woman who was covered up entirely in a protective stance by a man who looked like her husband. _  
_

Seeing the scene envelope in front of them, the remaining guards took their battle stance and started to react. But one thing that Castle noticed was that these men were not professionals. _That's a surprise_ he thought to himself. These people preyed on the weak who couldn't protect themselves. Their skill was amateurish compared to the skill level of Castle. He dropped to the floor and did a count of the men remaining. The two targets were still alive. Five guards, two were already dead, three remained. He looked at them for a second and reasoned that only one of them would cause him any real trouble.

He noticed the third guard was trembling fiercely and for a second he thought it was the husband. But it was not. The couple were still in the protective embrace he last saw them in. The third guard charged towards him like a raging bull, shooting bullets which zipped past Castle. Castle reacted with using his last knife and hurled it towards the man's chest who on impact dropped to the floor spewing blood out of his mouth gasping for air. The man behind the now dead third guard started shooting as well but Castle was quick and grabbed the third guard's body and used him as a shield. The fourth guard's bullets ricocheted off the walls. Some of them embedding themselves in the walls while some hit the third guard's already dead body. The fourth guard shooting did not stall but his precision was now dwindling. Adrenaline was now seeping through his body causing him to fail to shoot his target down. Now desperate he foolishly emptied his magazine with his bullets hitting and ricocheting off walls. One ricocheted bullet hit the point man in the face. But he had already bled out. The dead do not die again. The two suspects dropped to the floor with their faces buried in the ground and hands over their heads.

The fourth guard was occupied with refilling his gun with a fresh magazine not even bothering to find cover first. _Foolish_. Castle took a deep breath and fired a shot to the fourth guard's face ending his life instantly.

Now only the main targets were left. The reason this bloodshed had occurred. The deaths of the four guards were meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

As Castle got up so did the two suspects and backed away from him. He was their death angel. They felt it. They had no weapons. But neither had the countless underage girls they had sold throughout Europe. One suspect threatened him that if they were to die his life would be a living hell. He went on saying he knew people who would destroy him and kill him but soon he was on his knees moving on from death threats to promises of large sums of money if he let them live.

Castle paid no attention to this. He had heard them all before. They never changed. Taking in another deep breath.

"Morire in pace si distruttore dell'umanità. Restate in pace e pregare Dio che l'inferno nonvi aspettano" said Castle in a somber tone and shot each of them once.

Closing his eyes he thought to himself. _London had not killed him_.

He was thankful that this had gone according to plan. But as he looked around he saw the terrified faces of the couple and the guide who had slumped to the floor. They would be haunted by this memory for the rest of their lives. Poor souls.

Castle put his glock inside his jacket and started his way back to the hotel.

To many people after killing six people, sleep would be the last thing on one's mind. But Castle needed to rest his body even if they were plagued with nightmares. Through the years he had mastered a technique quite famous in the military where you trick the mind you are sleeping when in reality you are awake.

His phone alarm woke him up at seven in the morning the next day and ate breakfast at the same little coffee shop he had eaten the previous day. It was dangerous but he cleaned up well and the chances of London police finding him were zero to none.

While eating his breakfast which consisted of croissants, scrambled eggs and coffee he received a text from an unknown number stating that he was on a four PM flight back to the States. Looking at the time he saw that it was nearly half past eight and decided to head for the airport. After missions he liked to leave the city he had been assigned to early, it was safer for him that way. Plus Heathrow had a special section designated for U.S. citizens that an independent company but what the public did not know was that it was owned and run by CIA for agents like himself.

After a few hours he hailed a cab to Heathrow but made quick stop at a local post office to retrieve his ticket for the flight to Virginia. He walked inside the office towards an old lady at the register and said the word _Pie_. The old lady looked up and observed him for a few seconds then took out a ticket from a shabby box placed near the pot plant on the window still. He took the ticket and as he exited the post office he noticed a suspicious dark figure in an alley. Squinting his eyes he saw nothing but two kids passing a football to each other as they walked. Arriving at the airport he made his way towards the departure gate not even bothering going to the 'safe house' as he knew if were in trouble. He would know. The entire world would know as his face would have been plastered on every major news broadcasting channel.

The plane lifted off Heathrow leaving in its wake a city that had woken up to the news of six dead men found in the London Underground.

Nine hours later the plane made a smooth landing at Dulles airport. As gloomy and rainy it was in London. It was just the opposite in Virginia, hot and dry. He looked at the time which told him that the sun had almost set. He made his way towards the exits and noticed through the windows that heavy clouds had gathered during the hot day. Mother Nature was looking menacing but no rain was on the agenda.

As he exited the airport he recognized the black SUV waiting for him at the terminal exit. A government plate was visible which allowed it to wait in the restricted no parking zone.

Getting in, he clicked his seat belt shut and looked outside the window. Without saying anything the driver put the SUV in gear and headed off joining the oncoming cars. The driver knew where Castle wanted to be.

The traffic was surprisingly low at this time of day. Suddenly his phone vibrated indicating that he had received a message.

It read: _Good job. _

Not bothering to reply he put his phone back in his pocket and continued looking outside the car window.

"Good Job" he thought was the not right he would use. Yes he had killed two notoriously evil men but still He had killed six men. His mind putting an emphasis on the word '_kill_'.

After a mission like that, silence would be the best remedy.

After what seemed like an hour and a half he arrived at a diner in northern Virginia. This was where he was debriefed after a mission but not this time. The mission had gone without any problems. If they were any problems he would be provided no cover for his actions and probably would be abandoned by his government saying that they have no idea who he was or why he did the deed.

He walked in the diner which was half full as people had started coming in for dinner. Most of them were couples but some, like him, were alone. As he took a seat near a window he noticed a little boy who had acknowledged his presence and gave him small smile. He would have ignored it and looked away but he managed to give a small smile in return. _Strange_ he thought to himself. After placing an order for French fries and a strawberry smoothie he took out his phone and started scrolling through news articles from London based news websites. Many had the killings on their front pages with big text saying, 'SIX DEAD. POLICE STILL SEARCHING FOR MASS KILLER.' _If only they knew_ he thought.

Eating his fries and taking sips of his drink, a petite woman entered the diner with a yellow envelope in her hand. She looked around and locked eyes with him. Taking a few strides she took a seat opposite of Castle and placed the yellow envelope next to his smoothie. He looked at the envelope and back up and saw the woman take her leave without saying anything. A few minutes later he opened the envelope and discovered a black flash drive inside it. The next mission was already in place for him. Missions had been pouring in these last few years in an alarming rate even for him._ Evil never stopped_.

Few minutes later he left the diner towards the parking garage across the diner. The black SUV that had driven him here had already left. He drove himself from this point. His car, a matte BMW M5, awaited him on the second level of the garage. This was one of the luxuries he allowed himself. The car was his, had been for almost six years and driving through northern Virginia he put a foot on the gas which made the German machine roar into life. The sound was exhilarating to him, it calmed his nerves. He loved this machine. He passed a cop going way over the speed limit but he did not care. The government license plate was definitely a perk. _Abuse of power?_, who didn't these days would be his reply.

His phone buzzed.

Unlocking his phone to see the message he had received.

_Happy Birthday_

Rather than replying back. He just tossed the phone on the passenger seat. He wasn't in the mood for celebration. Not in the mood for smiles. Once he gets home there would be no people waiting for him, no cakes, no party hats, no soft music. He was alone.

As Castle punched the gas his thoughts back to the two kingpins in London. He knew that there were four bodyguards. The intel had not listed them but he recognized them from the list of men who could have been hired as guards by the two criminals. He remembered that the guards were desperate men who were willing to do anything for money. In the past the four guards had been involved in the killing of over sixty people throughout Europe. They were never caught as their employer would always have the means to get them out. _Money_. One of the king pin went by the name Clímaco Agustín, a Spanish national. He was the worst of the two as he had been tracked by the U.S. government for illegal drug trades throughout Europe and prostitution of underage girls. The second king pin went by the name Vladislav Benjamin who was the lead supplier of heroin in northern Europe. Both of them had been long time partners in crime and had come to London on vacation. But in reality they had come to make a deal with an English crime lord in an effort to solidify the safety of transport of their drugs and girls into England. Globalization was not a trend that only existed in the corporate world. Criminals were businessmen as well.

Castle had been assigned to eliminate both these men but for not for the reasons of drug trafficking and prostitution. Agustin and Benjamin had to die for they were planning a rebellion with Greek army generals to overthrow the newly democratically appointed government in Greece. That did not fare well in the interests of the United States. If the rebellion were to succeed, America would be considered enemy number one on their list. The meeting in London with the English crime lord was a hoax set up by the CIA. There was no meeting. Only a date with death from the hands of Castle.

An hour or so later he arrived home and decided for a walk through the dark streets of Virginia. Mainly, to clear his mind of thoughts before he lost himself again to the new assignment. Settling on one of the benches that overlooked the river his eyes darted towards a cloudless sky which looked menacing a few hours ago. Stars glistened in the night but there was no moon. He closed his eyes again thinking of the wonderful times he had with his family. Their smiles, the look of joy on his mothers face, the excited look on his child's face but most of all the look of love from his fiance. A tear dropped from his face onto his lap. He never cried. But he just couldn't hold it in anymore. Not on this day.

Happy Birthday, Richard Alexander Rodgers.

* * *

**Note: The part where Castle speaks in Italian just before he kills them off means 'Die peacefully you destroyer of humanity. Remain in peace and pray to god that hell doesn't await you.' **

**The next update may take a while because i am traveling at the moment but be assured that the story will be updated before next friday. Hope you are liking this so far. Reviews are always appreciated :) **

**Be kind to each other. **

**AfroSamurai98. **


	3. Chasing a Mad Man

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

Chapter 3

Snapping out of his haze Castle looked towards the room clock which indicated that it was almost four in the morning. He had slept through the day and was now working on his new assignment. According to the flash drive that was given to him by the woman in the diner he would have to travel way past London for this assignment. His next target was yet another powerful man with money that made Bill Gates look like a kid with pocket change. The man had power and the best protection money could buy. If he were to mess this up, the repercussions could possibly trigger a potential global political tension twice as bigger than the Cuban Missile Crisis. The preparation for this assignment was quite laborious and had taken its toll on Castle. His mind kept racing which kept him up at night and he had stopped eating as well. His hunger had disappeared as he lost himself to the assignment.

Cracking his knuckles he decided to relax for a bit. He was currently sitting in the living room of his apartment. The apartment was located in a well off neighborhood filled with mostly business and political oriented people. Castle's building fit right in. it was a state of the art, modernist in design, with the most advanced architectural and engineering components to date. The occupants of the building were mostly political workers, lawyers and some business minded people who were just starting off their careers. Most of them left early in the morning to take their places in their respective workplaces and take on the concerns of the whole city in their hands. It was a cycle that Castle was not part of but if he were given a choice. He would deny the offer. He was in too deep and his line of work was the only thing that made any sense to him anymore.

Castle was not very social with his neighbors although he saw them from time to time. A mandatory survey was done during the beginning of the year (a month before he moved in) and through his agency he had gotten a copy of the survey forms of each person living in the building. Looking over the forms, nothing too concerning popped up as most of them represented the average American living the American dream. Most of them kept to themselves just like Castle did.

Rubbing his eyes gently he started going over the detail for his next assignment. Castle fretted over the details, memorizing them if he could as they would be vital to the success of the mission and for him to live another day.

An hour passed and looking over the details repeatedly his eyes began to strain. He rose from the sofa and went towards the two large windows, bullet proof, overlooking a street where only a few cars passed by. He had been around the world numerous times mostly due to the nature of his work. Where he went, death would ensue for an unsuspecting person. The names of the targets he had eliminated had all but vanished from his memory. He was trained to not care for them. And personally they did not matter to him. His only job was to kill in the name of what is good in the world he lived in today.

Castle was not always the 'go to guy' for his secret agency. One person had been in his position before in a time where covert affairs were something that no one, sometimes even the president, knew about. The person who had been in his position went by the name Joseph McNamara. The man was and still is a living legend in the field of covert operations. To see why the man was called 'Angel de la muerte' (Angel of Death) one had to look the amount of successful hits the man had under his belt. At the age of thirty five, McNamara had ten times the amount of kills than Castle had. But Castle had one thing that McNamara did not. No mission to this date had gone unsuccessful for Castle but McNamara had one mission go terribly wrong which eventually cost him the job of assistant director of CIA. But still Castle looked up to him and McNamara who recognized Castle's talent before anyone had even heard of him became his mentor. But it had been a better of a decade since he had last talked to McNamara. Last he heard of him was that he was in Florida hunting crocodiles.

"Job comes first before anything lad. Remember that and you will live to see another day." was what McNamara had once told him once before he opted for retirement as his knees had finally given in according to him. Thinking about retirement, Castle knew he was not far away from it. He was at the peak of his career and at the age of thirty five the game had become a young man's battle rather than man who was on the verge of permanent knee damage. But retirement would only come if he survived.

He heard footsteps outside his doorstep and his mind which was trained to anticipate every possible scenario; he decided to take a little peek. He walked towards the door and placed his eye against the peep hole. Although he wasn't a sociable person it did not mean that he wasn't curious about his fellow neighbors. It wasn't really curiosity but the fact that these people had lives which were normal. And normal was what Castle had not been familiar with for the better part of the last decade. Seeing them rushing towards the elevator with a hot cup of coffee with an occasional donut in one hand. It made him feel normal and also made him feel that he was part of the normalcy of everyday life. Castle had even considered socializing with his fellow neighbors. One obvious reason was to become a part of their lives while the other being that it provided some sort of a cover for him. It also prepared him for the inevitable which was retirement and would help him become part of the norm. He snapped out of his thoughts and his mind went back, like it always did, to the assignment on hand.

The city of Barcelona awaited his arrival.

Another death, hopefully, brought upon by his hands.

It was a tough assignment, may be the toughest he had encountered in the past year, _but they always were_ he thought to himself.

He could die and almost no one would mourn his loss.

This way of life, many would try their hardest to avoid it.

But he could not change his fate.

He thought, _It is what it is._

* * *

**Note: **Really short chapter i know but i promise it will pick up in the next few chapters. I know the story has started off quite slow? (received some messages stating that it was) and the reason being is that i really want to develop this character and hopefully i can satisfy everyone when shit hits the fan for this guy. And trust me when it hits the fan you would love these insights i am giving you guys right now. _  
_

Peace.

AfroSamurai98


	4. A Waiting Game

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and probably the most loved show creator this year, Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

Chapter 4

The city of Barcelona truly lives up to its name. However the three characteristics of the city that attract tourists from around the world is its unique culture, the style and most importantly the harmony of the city.

As always he had not come here as a tourist but he certainly looked the role. His attire consisted of a dark blue shirt, a black jacket and faded jeans topped with some Ray Bans he had purchased at the airport. Castle, although reluctant at first, decided to get a little tan to fit the role he was going for. An American fellow on a lovely holiday.

Castle decided to go for a tour of the city, mainly because it was his first time in Barcelona and that was making him quite tense as he hated being in places that he was not familiar with. The tour was now half an hour in and was now slowly moving towards the sandy beaches of the city which overlooked the magnificent Mediterranean ocean. As the tour guide explained the importance of certain statues and places that lined up the historical streets his eyes wandered off to the Mediterranean. He was captivated by the mere vastness of the ocean and the beautiful colors of the sun dancing on the water. _Concentrate man_ he said to himself. His mind had been wandering off these past few weeks and he had to consider the possibility of the job after all these years was finally getting to him. _Nah_. He brushed the thought off. But admittedly it also scared him a little. He admired the view for a few minutes and then told himself to forget the image. There were far more important things that his mind needed to be occupied with.

Then his phone buzzed and unlocking the phone revealed information that every agent feared.

_Location change: Morocco. _

A wave of frustration went through his body as he started to wonder why the location had changed. Were they on to them? Was the hit leaked? A hundred questions went through his mind. _Don't Panic_. He had no reason to do so. He took a deep breath. _Relax. _He went to the internet browser on his phone to look up flights to Morocco or any ferries that would take him to Morocco. The local transport website indicated that one boat was about to embark in a few hours across the strait of Gibraltar. If it were up to him he would jumped off the moving tour bus and ran towards the awaiting boat. But that only happened in the movies, in reality patience was a game that many had to master it to fully appreciate the sweetness of the fruit it produced in the end.

As the tour bus arrived at the entrance of the hotel he was currently staying in. He quickly made his way towards the room and packed everything he owned in his suitcase while at the same time double checking that he did not leave anything behind that would indicate that he had inhibited the premises. Giving a room a last look he made his way towards the hotel exit and hailed a taxi. He told the driver that he would pay double if he got him to his location in the next hour and a half. The driver grinned and told him to sit back and relax.

He stopped at a locker store where tourists can safely keep their belongings as they toured the city. Castle decided to drop off his suitcase at one of the lockers. He had his reasons.

An hour passed and Castle had boarded the ferry which was quite large and bulky in shape. His mind however was solely occupied with thoughts of how he would get around in Morocco. His eyes averted back to the city. He could see several huge mountains rising from the west establishing a quite imposing and threatening coastline of Spain. The positioning of the mountains and the city skyscrapers with the element of Mediterranean provided a view that just captivated his mind. He was a sucker for landscapes if he was being honest to himself. But he had to put the captivating image aside as more important things were there to be thought of.

The ferry, to his surprise, was quite fast as it maneuvered the waves of the Mediterranean while it pitched and swayed towards its intended destination. Once out in the open ocean it gathered more speed and the ride eventually smoothed out. Castle looked around his surroundings and saw that mid level of the ferry was mostly composed of cars, trucks and buses while the rest, mostly the local people of Morocco, were on the top level admiring the scenery in front of them and some having a smoke whilst leaning on the railing.

In order to blend in Castle took a seat near the front of the boat and pretended to enjoy the view as well. The travel time would take about three hours but it would have been an hour but due to high traffic of gasoline ships passing through the Mediterranean, the large vessel had to pass the waters warily. A the minutes passed by he started studying his fellow passengers. Most of them looked like tourists eager to set foot in Africa and explore what treasures the continent had in store for them. But Castle had been to Morocco various times as some assignments had him chasing war criminals in the poverty stricken streets of the city. And to him Morocco did not portray the definite image of Africa. But it had its magic at the same time.

After a few hours the ship finally docked at a port that went by the name Al Hoceima. Castle exited the ferry and looking around the landscape he saw various busses, taxis, touring companies awaiting their arrival. Knowing the layout in the back of his mind he evaded the tour guides and left the port on foot. He stopped at a small portable merchandise shop and asked the shopkeeper how far the main street was from the port. _Blending in_ was vital everywhere.

Walking a few blocks and turning a few corners to avoid a trail, if there was one, he entered the main street of the town and stumbled upon what the tourist's back in the boat would not have been expecting. Beggars, mostly young children, old homeless people, and some shopkeepers lined up the street. As he walked towards his destination, homeless children started pulling on his jacket asking for spare change or even a piece of gum to fill up their hungry stomachs. It took all the mental strength he had to ignore them and move on.

Walking another block he came across a spice market. While turning a corner he nearly stumbled upon an elderly woman with a little child on her side. The elder woman looked half asleep and he noticed small loafs of bread in her hands which he thought were for sale. As he looked at both of them in torn clothing he wondered that this was probably what their entire lives had been. Standing at this corner of the street hoping that a person may spare some change for a loaf of bread. The child looked on the verge of showing her bones which told Castle that she was highly malnourished. His instincts told him to move on but instead he took out a four dirhams in Moroccan currency and handed it to the elder woman.

The elder woman looked shocked at first and then came something which made his day a little less strenuous for him. A smile on the little girl's face. That smile could have lightened up anyone's day. The elder woman thanked him in her language with promises of prayers for him of future prosperity. Castle replied "you're welcome" in English and told the lady in her language to feed the child. She nodded encouragingly and with that he gave a small smile to the little girl who was now grinning with joy. He said his goodbyes to both of them and walked away feeling good about what he had just done. Most of the times he walked away, death was the only thing he left behind.

He took out his phone and saw that he was running a little late. He increased his pace as time was everything to him. The street was crowded with tourists as all types of street performers enticed them with various antics that tourists considered unique to the Moroccan culture.

His destination was a fourth floor room situated above a local restaurant which guaranteed tourists authentic Moroccan cuisine. But Castle knew that in reality that the food was standard, the beer warm and the service the same as the restaurant five miles down the road who charged less. The tourists would be brought on with promises of authenticity and culture and then later the guides would go to place with a meal far more delicious.

Most tourists would be out exploring the city this time of the day so the employees busied themselves watching a soccer game with the TV blasting Arabic commentary leaving the front desk unchecked. Castle would have already been registered on the books and not bothering to check in he made his way up the stairs to the fourth floor. Even if they were to find him in the room he would just pay them off as money did wonders for one in this part of Africa. He unlocked the door and was greeted with a small room consisting of a bed, chair, and a small window overlooking the street and a tall minaret. Less things less problems.

He gently rubbed his face and took a seat on the bed which creaked loudly under his weight. He checked his phone which showed that it was almost twelve pm local time.

The flash drive he had received from the agency had longed been destroyed. The plan was in place and he knew what he had to as he had practiced repeatedly in facilities which simulated scenarios like these almost every day before this plan was set in motion. The targets movement he thought would now be monitored on a twenty four hour basis as a location change just days before the meeting would tell many that the attempt on one's life has been found out. But the plan was still on as if it were cancelled he would already been on the plane back to Virginia.

Now he had to do what he hated the most during assignments. Wait. Just simply wait for the target.

He lay down on the bed and started massaging his arms and shoulders, working out any kinks from the tiresome journey he had just undergone. He thought about the target he had to eliminate. This one he had to admit would be a hard one. He knew it was an important one as the one who usually debriefs him was replaced by the assistant director of the CIA. The target was not stupid like the two scumbags he had taken out in London. He had security which matched the level of security of politicians in America. The people he hired were top notch unlike the guards he had encountered in the London Underground. These guys did not miss. He knew this one would be ten times as harder, or at least it should be.

Most of the times Castle had his suitcase with him but this he chose not bring anything from Barcelona as he needed to pass the customs in order to get on the ship. It would have made national news if the Spanish customs found a gun in his suitcase and him being an American, it would have been a national outrage.

Whatever he needed for this assignment would already be in Al Hoceima.

His eyes started to weigh heavy, the heat radiating from the window was now making him a little nauseous. Knowing he had nothing else to do he closed his eyes knowing fully that he would awaken himself five hours later. The noise of the local shopkeepers shouting and cars honking slowly reduced as he went to sleep. Exactly five hours later his eyes snapped open with sweat dripping from his face telling him that it was now the hottest part of the day. Swiping sweat from his face that had built up, he went towards the window and looked outside. It was five in the evening and the street was now bustling with activity. Tour buses, cars, trucks loaded with material way above their capacity navigated through the street which was filled with people and tourists.

After taking a quick shower to remove the smell of sweat from him he exited the room and made his way to the street. He turned west and picked up his pace towards a crowd of people that were moving along the street at his pace. Few seconds later he was lost in the hustle and bustle of the city. The reason for this was that he needed to collect a package that was waiting for him. The package contained everything he needed to get the job done.

Almost nine hours later Castle found himself in an eerily dark place. Carefully taking quite strides he approached a desolate and huge facility from the east. The package he had picked up from an agent pretending to be a shopkeeper contained a solid case, water, and provisions required for him to survive for three days. He would not be returning to the hotel room that he had slept in as he had no intention of leaving this place for a whole three days. He blended in with the environments and took in the smell of a third world country. He looked up and saw heavy clouds starting to gather. Rain would not be a problem for him as whatever he was about to do would happen inside the facility

His phone vibrated once and then again after a whole minute which told him to get ready. He heard the noise of an approaching truck and quickly found a hiding spot behind some empty barrels. Few seconds later the truck passed him and stopped just like he had anticipated it would. He quickly made his way in a ducking position towards the back of the truck. He reached the rear and slid underneath and held on to the metal underneath the truck. The driver put the truck in gear again but it would not move. Realizing his mistake the driver pushed the gear back in neutral which made a long grunting noise near Castle. Putting it in the correct gear the truck started moving again which almost made Castle lose his balance and fall on the road.

Approximately a hundred feet later the truck made another stop. He tightened his grip on the metal and heard the opening of doors. He heard footsteps heading off towards what he thought would be the entrance to the facility. A twisting sound came up from ahead and the locks on the entrance doors were put in place. Apart from the footsteps of patrol officers who were positioned in place 24/7, there was absolute quiet in place. It would be this way he thought for exactly three days as well.

The timing was crucial here as the twisting sound continued. The truck moved along entering the premises. Castle quickly got out from underneath the truck and raced away just as the sounds died out in the night. Six hours earlier the facility had been put in a strict 'no one goes out' lockdown. The truck was the only way that Castle thought was the best way for him to get in. So far so good.

Just like in London the surrounding environment was relatively dark but this time he didn't have any night vision goggles to help him out. The glow of the lenses would give up his position. Taking four steps at a time, the case on his back felt heavier than before as it gently slapped him in the back.

The next few seconds would be the most crucial. These seconds would prove vital to his survival or his death as he reached ladder which led to the ceiling. He did a monkey crawl across the girder until he reached his targeted spot. Dangerously swinging from the right and then to the left he waited and confidently leaped. The landing was so sweet and clean that it made no noise when Castle's feet met the metal. He quickly made his way to the spot that would keep him safe for the days to come. It was high up in the ceiling and no visible eye even if they looked up could see him as it was the darkest spot even in broad day light.

After waiting for a while he heard a few clicks and all the lights in the surrounding area went off and the alarms came on. Castle had learned that the alarm had been recently installed. The inside and the outside were now laser protected. Even if one grazed the laser, loud sirens would go off and the perpetrator would be killed instantly on sight. It was like Guantanamo Bay without the prisoners.

Castle turned around with his face now facing the ceiling.

Three more days.

A countdown. That's what his life had become.

* * *

**Note: **Hope you liked it this chapter.

I always appreciate Reviews :)

Peace.

AfroSamurai98


	5. Insane Kuwaiti Prince's and Hot weather

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

It was almost dawn.

The Moroccan populous had begun to wake from their slumber. Prayers were starting across the city as people fell on their knees facing to the east towards Mecca to praise their god.

Mecca was more than a thousand miles away from Morocco but to the locals their maker was closer to them every time their knees hit the rugs five times a day.

But as soon as the prayers finished the people would roll up the rugs and move on with their lives. Putting Allah in the back of their minds for the rest of the day.

After the prayers had been performed it was time to eat and drink. There were numerous places in Al Hoceima which accommodated the needs of the people at this early hour.

However not all people were performing this ritual. The roars of four heavily armored Range Rovers were heard throughout the quiet streets. These men did not walk the streets. They would get killed if they did. The armor around the four Range Rovers exceeded the standard which was set by the American Military. No bullets no matter how big and destructive they were could break through the windows of the Range Rovers whose V12 engine would have probably woken half the city up by now. Any road side bombs would be deflected and the huge vehicles would just roll on by without stopping. The important man, who was comfortably sitting in the third vehicle, was to be dropped off at a location which was described as a hangar facility without fail.

The man inside the third vehicle was Abu Khalid Bin Yousef. Most knew him with his title 'Prince Yousef' and he was a cousin to current king of Kuwait. The sole connection to the king had earned him automatic respect in both the Muslim and Christian worlds.

Al Hoceima was one of the places he tried to avoid as his life had been put in grave danger when the last time he set foot in this city. But business is business and no matter what the risk he had to attend this meeting without fail. This meeting could give birth to the revolution he had been praying for the past two decades of his life.

Yousef was scheduled to leave in his luxury jet which cost more than the GDP of some third world African countries. His wealth was enormous as a hundred million (which covered the cost of one of his jets) was just one percent of his total wealth. Any member born with king affiliations was gifted with enormous amounts of wealth. The Kuwaitis were pretty close with the west, mostly with the United States, mainly due to the amount of oil America received from Kuwait. The relationship was quite healthy as the flow of petroleum was enough to mark Kuwait as one of 'good' guys.

Yousef was not one of these 'good' guys and put on a front showing his support for the friendship between the two nations. In reality, he absolutely despised the west.

His country had to bear the shame of him being charged with the allegations of torture and killing of more than ten U.S. servicemen, who were abducted from a club in Prague. Money talks and no proof was provided to go along with the allegations which set Yousef free of all charges. The massacre of more than a hundred people, twenty being American, carried out by four terrorists who told Intelligent Services that they were funded by a wealthy Kuwaiti by the name Yousef. Yet again the allegations had no weight and he faced no repercussions.

These allegations however did not go unchecked by the international military services as Yousef's name was put on a black list which belonged to the most secret anti-terrorist agencies in the world.

The reason for his visit to Al Hoceima was to meet with people who shared his hatred for the west. These people and Yousef had a lot in common. Yousef's vision for the future didn't have the American flag leading the way for civilization. The sole purpose of the meeting was to make this vision a foreseeable reality.

The Range Rover's stopped near a safe house and all the guard's including Yousef entered the premises through a highly guarded metal door with a touch pad and Retina scanner installed next to it. Entering the premises the metal door shut behind them revealing blast walls set up at specific points to avoid an ambush of any sort. Inside the perimeter armed guards were on high alert and ready to shoot on command. This level of security was meant for the rich.

The group approached a large round table which was hidden behind drapes and was set atop on an elevated wooden platform. The prince observed his surroundings, his eyes continually moving around to spot anything out of place. He had survived several attempts on his life, one being an attempt by his own brother and other being by the Italians who he had royally pissed off the most in his life. His brother was now dead due to 'natural' causes while the hitman the Italians had hired was also dead.

Throughout his life he had trusted only one person, himself. Yousef anticipated and guessed that the Americans were not far behind as their allies, the French, had failed to end his life. The guards he hired had gone through trainings from around the world and were loyal to him to the very end. This special group consisted of only Arab's with no other race being allowed inside or even near his inner circle. Yousef had received training as well. He was a good shot and could take out a running deer from three hundred yards away. He wore his shades even inside the premises so he could look around his surroundings without anyone seeing where he was looking at. The shades were made by a German company who installed special lenses which could allow him to see things the naked eye could not. But he was only human thus he did not have eyes in the back of his head.

A waiter approached Yousef with napkins but did not hand him any drinks to go along with it. The fear of getting poisoned was always a possibility so he brought his own stash of alcoholic drinks. One of the guards produced a wine glass out of a small case with a 1986 Chteau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac bottle on its side. He added the wine and sipped a few times while his mind tried to focus on the upcoming meeting. He was ready for anything. Everything to him was a blessing. Except an enlarged prostate.

His prostate was an annoyance that even a man with HIS vast amount of riches could not solve. He could not make someone else do his personal business for him

Yousef made his way to the restroom while his guards went to check the restrooms for any enemies or bombs that might await him. A guard swept the entire restroom with wipes to remove anything that might displease the prince. Royalty like himself did not often use urinals.

Yousef entered the restroom and used one of the stalls he thought looked the cleanest. He closed the door of the stall using a handkerchief which was made from imported Singaporean silk. Traditionally many people assumed that he would wear a robe wherever he went but Yousef liked to wear suits. He wore a twenty five thousand pound custom made suit which fit him perfectly down to the very inch. In total he had over a hundred suits and some of them he had did not even know where he had discarded them. Most of them lay in the countless properties he owned around the world. Never in his life had he flown in a commercial airline. If he were to stay in a hotel, it would have to be a five star with the whole floor to himself. He hated crossing paths with commoners and could not fathom seeing one near his room. He owned a dozen helicopters and pilots who could whisk him away any time he pleased. The lifestyle he enjoyed was something nearly no one in the world could deem imaginable in this economy but Yousef was not like them. He was different and he liked to show it off as much as possible.

_I am better_ he thought. _Far better_.

Even with all his riches he still had to unzip his pants and do his business just like any other man in the world. Rich or poor. The wall in front of him displayed graffiti and he looked at it with utter disgust. The western culture had slowly spread throughout the world. He was now living in a world where a woman was allowed to vote, dress in skimpy dresses to look like whores, even drive cars and work outside their respected homes. _It was blasphemous_ he thought. The king of Kuwait was now a puppet of the west and to his surprise, nearly all of his families were following in the king's footsteps. It disgusted him. It had to change and hopefully he would be the driving force of that change.

Finishing his business in the restroom he made his way back to the table. His guards had taken a hexagonal positioning around him emulating the secret service's positioning around the president of the United States. Wherever he went his personal physician would follow suit just like the president. If you can afford and emulate the strongest man in the world. Why not?

He was an important man or at least he thought he was. Yousef's vision one day was to replace the free leader of the world. The world would be a different place under his command and it would not be allowed the freedoms it enjoys today. His first goal would be to ban women from voting.

The prince suddenly felt hungry and ordered his men to arrange for a meal at a restaurant. The cavalry made its way to a restaurant where Yousef could dine in peace as the whole place was rented for a couple of hours. He soon finished his meal which he thought was peasant food and made his way back to the jet which was currently residing in a facility just outside the city. He quickly changed back to the robes he had bought with himself and was soon off to the private facility that housed the jet.

Soon the Range Rovers bustled passed the hangar doors and stopped right in front of the luxury jet. Everything he owned had its uniqueness to it. This private jet was an example. Unlike the normal white color jets are usually seen as, this one was jet black with his first and last initials embedded in gold on the wings. To Yousef the color matched his personality. High class and menacing with an element of danger.

The plane represented him.

The noise of the hangar doors closing were heard as he got out of the Range Rover.

No shots from rifles could now threaten his life.

The steps leading to the top were laden with an oriental red carpet.

The meeting would take place inside his jet.

When the meeting was finished, then only were the hangar doors allowed to open.

He liked to be in control.

What he did not know was that, his controlling days were coming to an end.

* * *

To make sure no else entered the jet after Yousef had entered. Two guards were placed at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the plane while one guard was placed in front of the entrance door. The rest of the guards were situated in various spots inside the plane. All of them wearing the same exact robe that the prince had on to distract any threats from the outside if there were any. After Yousef entered, the fuselage door was locked and it felt like they were in a locker with so many people but the plane was designed to provide as much space possible. It was comfortable, as it always was, in Yousef's case.

An imported Japanese mahogany table was placed in the middle of the cabin. The interior designing of the cabin was his doing. The interior consisted of the most expensive materials imported from around the world. The marble underneath their feet was imported straight from India while the oriental rugs were hand sewn from the mountain people of Nepal. The walls of the cabin were decorated with various art famous pieces from the Arab world so he could enjoy artwork at forty thousand feet in the air. Yousef was a man of wealth and enjoyed it wholesomely.

Two men had already arrived beforehand. One was an Iranian man, the other Syrian. This partnership was doomed from the start, as the two nations despised each other, but here they were sitting side by side without trying to strangle each other. This certainly intrigued the Yousef a great deal.

Money got things done in the world today and both the Iranian and Syrian agreed that with the right amount. Virtually anything was possible. True. But what he desired was something the Nazi empire and the Japanese empire could not achieve. Even the Soviet Union had failed.

"Are you two sure that you can pull this off?" the prince said in a skeptic tone.

The Iranian, a giant of a man with a hairy beard but a hairless head which gave him an unbalanced look nodded confidently.

"Many have tried throughout history. All of them have failed. My closest advisors tell me it is a plan doomed from the start" said the prince giving the two men a questioning look.

"Everything has a weakness brother. Nothing is impossible to break. Nothing lasts forever," replied the Syrian in a straight forward tone. He was smaller and looked weaker than the Iranian but Yousef was sure that the Syrian was the leader in this unlikely partnership.

"May I ask what this weakest link is?"

"A person placed deep in their system. The person is right in front of them but they are too blind and proud to see it. And we have owned this person from the very beginning."

"How is this even possible?" said the prince getting a little agitated. He wanted to know everything. He liked control.

"Not possible my brother. It is a fact."

"This person you speak of have access to the weapon we need?"

"The person is in a position where we know for sure that access to the weapon is guaranteed."

"This person seems to carry some power. Tell me how did you come to own this person?"

"That my brother, I cannot reveal"

"If this person is willing to die for my cause then it is important to me. I have to know."

The Syrian replied. "The person is willing to die for the cause."

This stumped Yousef a little. "I do not understand. Is this person a westerner?"

"During this conversation we have had. Have I said that this person is a westerner?"

"So I presume this person is a plant?"

"The seed was planted at a time when both of us did not know who the true enemy was yet."

"Dare I say why?"

"You ask why? Why do you do everything you do? When you believe in certain things. You take careful steps to make those things possible."

The prince gave a hard look to the Syrian who just sat there looking unfazed. This he had to admit intrigued him greatly. It excited him.

"Everything is in place my brother. But to make this a reality we need massive funds. If the plan goes successfully which I guarantee it will. We will need those funds for the aftermath. The plant we have placed is in place and secure as if right now. But we may need to act fast as there are eyes and ears everywhere. We wait longer and the plan goes stale before it even had a chance to blossom," said the Syrian in a tone that he had heard many politicians use.

The prince closed his eyes and ran his finger over the side of his leather chair. He glanced out the custom extra large windows he had installed. He liked the view from the sky.

Then in a flash.

A loud boom sounded through the hangar and bullet broke through the window hitting the prince right in the forehead ending his life. Brain matter splattered the room as he slumped in the leather chair and then eerily slid to the floor.

The Iranian leapt from his chair and slid under the table. He was defenseless as all his weapons had been confiscated at the hangar entrance. The Syrian was in shock. His body wouldn't move. His eyes not blinking as he thought for sure these were his last moments.

The trained guards reacted and one of the guards pointed to the vantage point where the bullet had originated from. "OUT THERE. GET HIM YOU FOOLS!"

All the guards rushed towards the exit.

The three guards outside were already reacting with guns pointing and firing at the source of gunshot.

Castle was flat on his chest as bullets pinged around him. _One at a time. _He quickly took aim and fired a few shots. One of the guards met the bullet with his forehead and dropped dead. Another guard collapsed as the bullet pierced through his chest.

This vantage point was perfect. Anything that moved outside the plane would meet a certain death. Castle carefully took aim and let lose a hail of bullets towards the entrance of the jet. The bullets jammed the lock, locking the guards inside the plane. He could see a guard rushing towards the cock pit to force open the hatch but Castle had already anticipated that. He took aim and shot a fury of bullets which could and did destroy the mainframe of the jet. This birdy was not flying anywhere for a while. He was lucky that the windows of the jet were not bullet proof. The plane could not carry that much weight as it already was baring the weight of the large windows and the custom furnishing inside.

Killing part: _Done. _

He had yet to accomplish the hardest part of this mission.

Escape: _Not yet. _

He monkey crawled the girder until he reached the wall at the other side of the hangar. There was a window installed in the wall. He opened it and attached a portable hook on the top edge of the window. He clasped a rope on the hook and made sure it was secure enough for him to slide down the wall. Putting one hand on the rope he slid down while keeping one hand on his gun in case a guard decided to show up. Smoothly landing on the surface he raced into the forest heading west. He approached a fence and put every speck of energy he had in his legs and scaled the fence. Few seconds later he heard shouts of angry men behind him. _They never give up do they? _Why would they as their boss was dead and soon they will be too. Looking back he saw some beams of light break through the darkness. One of guards shouted something in Arabic and started shooting in his directions. Castle ran unfazed by this as bullets zipped past him. But if he lost his rhythm, one bullet was bound to hit him.

Castle approached a road and saw a car screech to a halt. He took off his bag pack and leaped in the through the back seat window. The driver did not even look at him and drove off into the night. The car sped through the outskirts of Morocco not even stopping at the red light signals. They drove for another fifteen minutes till the car came to a halt near a wide alley way. Castle got out and headed down the alley. He walked a hundred yards till he reached a courtyard. The courtyard was small but it held the car that Castle needed. The car turned out to be a red Fiat 500. He got in the car and took out the keys from the dashboard, and started it up. He punched the gas as the engine woke from its slumber and took off into the hollow night.

Thirty minutes later Castle found himself in the middle of Al Hoceima. He decided to drive in the city for a while and later went to the port where he had come through three days earlier. The port was quiet apart from the chatter of port workers and people waiting for the ferry to Spain. Castle got out of the car and opened the hatch of the Fiat which revealed a suitcase containing fake travel documents and local currency of both Morocco and Spain.

An hour passed and Castle was deciding whether to board the ferry he had used to come to Morocco or use a different and much slower ferry. Deciding not to take any chances he boarded the slower ferry which would take him to Barcelona but would take twice as longer. Two days to be exact. Few minutes later he was guided to a family room his employer had insisted upon. He made no arguments and put away his suitcase, locked his door and decided to lounge on the bed for the journey back to Spain.

Castle understood the logic of using this ferry as an exit route. The last place they would look at is a ferry that almost took three days to reach its destination. They would check places like the airport, train stations, and bus stations as all these places would provide a faster exit out of the country. Not a half century old ferry which took forty eight hours to go a few hundred miles up the Mediterranean.

The conversion between the prince and the two men intrigued and worried Castle a great deal. He had the heard the entire conversation through a nifty device Chuck had introduced to him. _A plant. Decades in the making. Funding required for the aftermath._ This would be a great concern for any person in the government. But it was not his problem. The job he had been assigned to do was completed. Once he made it back to Virginia he would have to write a report and the rest would be up to the whip smart analyst's of the agency. Yousef was certainly a black sheep in the Kuwaiti Royal Family and he would bet money on it that the Royal family would put on front on how devastated they were about their loss. Tense diplomatic affairs would take place between the two countries. But in truth they would be toasting his death.

The plan had gone accordingly. Castle could have taken out the Kuwaiti prince from the moment he had gotten out from his Range Rover. But he contained himself as his escape plan would require almost all of the guards to be inside the plane. As the prince had entered the plane Castle had lost sight on him for a minute then appeared again on his scope when prince took a seat on his leather chair. His initial plan was to shoot the prince through the heart but he noticed that the prince had a body armor on. A shot to the head was tougher but it would get the job done. One can protect the body with armor but not the head. It was always venerable.

Castle had spent three grueling and tiresome days in that same spot. It had taken its toll on him. To eat he had to survive on pills and had to pee in a jar while he patiently waited for the prince's arrival.

A head shot and Yousef was dead.

Whatever the plan the three men had discussed was dead.

_Hopefully_.

Castle's eyes felt heavy.

Soon gentle swaying of the ferry lulled him to sleep.

* * *

**Note: **I want to start off by saying thank you for all the alerts and the reviews you guys have given. I REALLY appreciate that. Writing this chapter was quite tricky but i hope i got the idea of Yousef being really evil yet very ironic character across nicely. Many of you will be wondering when the original plot comes into place. Worry not because trust me these chapters i have posted are really important to the story i have brewing in my mind. Where is Kate? hopefully and probably will make an entrance in chapter 7 if everything goes accordingly.

P.S. the next update may take a while as i am in Brazil right now (photography gig for National Geographic :D ). But be assured that it will be posted before next friday?

Peace.

AfroSamurai98.


	6. Being 'Normal'

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

For some odd reason this one felt different.

Nearly five months had passed since his last assignment. The weather had become pleasant since then. It was cool with the skies above a soft grey color. During the five months, Castle had not killed anyone. Not that he minded the off time he was getting but it did worry him a little to be inactive for so long. It allowed him to do the something's he still enjoyed doing. Long walks along the river, eating out at nights, and read books till the wee hours in the morning. He loved books, especially mystery novels, since he was kid. He had a difficult childhood and as soon as he picked up his first children's novel, he was fascinated by them ever since. Books to him were a sort of a portal as once he picked up a good book he would be transported to a world where the reality he was living in just vanished. Sometimes he wondered if he hadn't taken the military route and chosen a different path for his life. A writer would have definitely been on top of his list. A _bestselling _writer.

He had even traveled in his time off. And for what seemed like the first time, it did not involve him ending someones life.

Castle was doing something that he had not done for a while, acting normal.

_Well, that's certainly new. _

But sadly his 'normal' days came to an end as a yellow envelope slid under his door which probably contained a flash drive. It was time for Castle to do the deed again. The mission had come in short notice and he did not that much time to prepare for it. But this particular mission was special as the flash drive, which is usually black in color, came in red color this time. It meant that the mission was top priority and a lot of eyes would be on him on this one.

_Great _

With a steaming cup of coffee in one hand he was currently sitting in his living room thinking of how he should approach this one. He had been up for several hours now and it was now early in the morning with sleep not bothering to inhibit his body. As the mission grew closer his coffee consumption nearly doubled and he rarely ate any food. It was always like this whenever the mission was close and his brain would just not shut off as it constantly awoke him in the dead of night to correct some errors he had made. He was a machine and machine's never slept unless commanded to do so.

The months he was inactive he had actually started to socialize and he even attended a building party that a resident on the third floor had held in his apartment. Normally he would have ignored it but he really did not see the harm in having some fun even if it included him sitting on a chair gazing out the window clearly oblivious to his surroundings. Around fifteen people had attended the party. Castle was introduced to several of the resident's friends. He really did not care how much they made each year. Washington was filled with these types. But, throughout the night his attention was focused on one sole person in the apartment. A young woman sitting by herself who kept looking at him with what he thought was intrigue.

Castle had received a debriefing on her when she moved in two doors next to his apartment. She was an early riser and every day at the stroke of four am, apart from weekends, she would voyage to the White House on her bicycle.

Castle knew she was a lot younger than him and she appeared to be quite intelligent, at least to him she was. Working at the White House? Only the top four schools could get you a job there. There had been many times when both of them had made eye contact for a second but then quickly looked the other way. Castle presumed she was as friendless as he was. And he thought if he started a conversation with her she wouldn't have minded it. She had worn an elegant black dress with her brunette hair perfectly framing her face. With a drink in her hand she would sneak a glance in Castle's direction, smile, and then look the other way continuing her conversation with the person in front of her who Castle didn't recognize.

Castle had thought of approaching her numerous times but in the end decided against it and eventually thought it was time for him to leave. As he said his goodbyes to the resident who had organized the party he sneaked a glance towards the woman. She was now laughing at a comment made by the person who he did not recognize. Castle thought that was for the best. What would have been the point anyway? If she found out what he did, she would have bailed the next second.

Unlocking his door, he checked for the traps that he had set up in his apartment which would tell him if someone had gone through his things. None of the traps seemed out of place and he decided for a cup of coffee. With a mug in one hand he walked towards the windows and stared at the bustling street down below.

Fall had arrived and the leaves had turned a shade of orange. The evenings which were usually humid were now chilly. To people who have lived in Virginia know that the city was built on a swamp. Some still believe it is still a swamp swarming with corrupt politicians but it had good weather so that was a plus.

The time frame was short on this assignment but Castle had done his homework on the subject thoroughly and all the run-throughs that came along with it had been performed accordingly as well.

He had that rare feeling about this one. It was different and he didn't like it

It was not his call.

The location where the hit would take place did not require him to leave the country. This target was different. And that was not a good thing, especially for him.

Most assignments had him going around the world to eliminate people who had the intention of causing a global menace, people like the king pin duo or Yousef. He went after major problems.

One could label the assignments he received, but at the end of the day it was the same thing. One person had to be killed. The higher ups decided who would be his next target. The eliminating part was his job.

They provided one justification for his actions. It made the world a better and a safer place.

If the mission went haywire, the agency that he worked for had a policy on that. If you were caught. You will be abandoned. The United States would not claim you and the country would take no steps in saving his life. Unlike the Marines where no one gets left behind; agents like him got left behind.

Every mission he had been assigned since he became an agent, Castle always had an exit plan. He was only one who knew about the exit plan in case the agency thought he was better off dead. Throughout his career with the agency he never had to employ his exit plan because he had yet to fail in eliminating a target. But he never overestimated himself for one never knows what might happen tomorrow.

McNamara had taught whatever Castle knew today. From field combat to manipulating people, he had learned from the best. But McNamara had told him that one day would come where things go wrong and when that day arrives only one person would have his back. Yourself.

"You are the only one that can have your back covered, Richard. Trust no one."

He turned his back on the window and did a survey of his apartment. It had been almost five years since he had moved in and unlike his other homes which he had been given by the agency. He had bought this one on his own and liked it for the most part. Almost everything he needed was in a walking distance. Restaurants were a block away and he loved to eat out with Chinese being his favorite. There were a host of unusual shops that lined up the streets that were not part of the chains found nationwide. He ate outside constantly. He liked to observe and study people as they walked by his table. In a way, Castle was a student of humanity. Castle had mastered the craft of studying people by their faces and could predict what they would do next. It was not a god given talent. It had been a skill he had built upon through his years in the agency. It was also what kept him alive.

Two years ago the owner of the building complex built a gym in the basement. Castle often used it to workout, polish his muscles, and practice various Ju Jitsu techniques that needed any improvement if any. Out of all the residents he was the only one that used the facility. His workout was quite rigorous and laborious and it had to be as he was constantly being shot at so he needed to be in top shape.

But at the age of thirty five and all the things he had gone through in his military career, it wasn't exactly easy.

Snapping his neck back and forth he was rewarded with a pleasing pop that relaxed his neck.

He looked at the watch which showed him that it was nearly four in the morning. He had been lost in thought for nearly three hours. Not good if you have a mission just days away. He heard a door open and close outside his apartment. He made his way to the door and looked through the peephole that showed the woman who he had been thinking about go to work. The White House awaited her arrival and today she was dressed in slacks with a purple shirt and black coat to go with it. Castle had always been the first one to leave the building but ever since she moved in. She became the earliest one to leave.

S. Turner

The name was written on her mailbox on the ground floor. _S. Turner_. That was the name of the woman who had somehow without even talking to him captured his mind. He knew the S in her name stood for Sophia. The debriefing he had received on her had told him that.

He always wondered if people found it strange that his own mailbox had only his last name. But then again who cared really.

Turner was a woman in her early thirties, tall, brunette and a body that made men turn around on the streets when she walked by. The first time Castle had laid eyes on her was when she moved in. She was dressed in shorts with a Harvard sweatshirt on. But her face was what intrigued Castle's mind. Her face resonated elegance but at the same time she appeared broken to Castle. _Troubled past? That makes two of us. _She was an independent woman and he had heard her once talking to a neighbor who did not agree with the policies of the current administration. She had replied with straight forward and sharp answers which would have quieted down the reporters on a major news network.

Was he impressed?

_Oh, yes_.

Castle started to call or remind himself of her in his mind by the letter "S."

As "S" disappeared into the elevator Castle moved away from the door and made his to the windows. Few minutes later he saw her come out of the building and ride towards the street corner. He watched her until she turned the corner and was no longer visible.

_Next Stop_: White House.

He checked the time again which indicated that it was four fifty in the morning. He sat down on the sofa in his living room and laid his head down on a cushion to relax for a while. His apartment had that 'homey' feel to it. But, if someone were to break in they would leave disappointed as they probably wouldn't find anything on his personal life. He had locked that part of his life deep down where no one could access it. Not even his superiors. Castle however took the initiative in the decoration of the apartment. Walls were lined up with pieces of art that he collected from his travels around the world and the furniture had a minimalist feel to it. He appreciated extravagance but to a certain degree as the only expensive thing was the huge bookcase he had purchased to house his enormous library. His room consisted of a bed which was a Japanese platform bed and a painting that he had done himself. The painting was the main attraction of his bedroom and the artwork itself was of a woman he had met a long time ago. She was no more but she would always be on his mind. She was the humane side of him.

He got off the couch and decided for a quick workout to loosen his muscles a little. He pulled out a portable pull-up bar and attached to top frame of his bedroom door. He easily dropped a thirty and took a breather, then did another twenty. He did some pushups and crunches to complete his definition of an easy workout. He was in top form both physically and mentally. _Mentally_, _Not so much in top form. _But still he had to acknowledge the fact that he was thirty five and this game was a young man's battle. He was not what he once was. Castle sincerely hoped that his erosion of physicality would not affect his field performance but it was bound to happen one day and hopefully he would live to see another day.

_Highly Unlikely. _

Sweat dripping from his body he lay down on his bed which did not have any covers on it. He liked the cold. Cold made one sleepy.

Tomorrow would be a busy night.

If only he knew that it might just be the busiest night of his life.

* * *

The next day Castle decided for a workout at the basement gym. Like always it was empty with only him and his music in a low volume setting. Never lower your guard. It was almost ten in the night but the gym was open twenty four hours for the residents of the building. The only access to the gym was through a key card which he had received on the day the gym opened. Castle's workout regimen was quite unique: he did one workout once and once only. He concentrated mainly on his positives such as his stamina, agility and concentration rather than on strength or flexibility. Strength was important but too much of it could be a disadvantage as well. But he tried his best to concentrate and work on all of them. Every exercise he performed required one or all the elements he possessed.

He started on the pull up bar first doing regularly pull ups then hanging upside down to do a set of stomach crunches. He held a medicine ball to work out his oblique muscles and did some pushups with his entire body in the air apart from his thumbs which were trying their hardest to hold the hundred eight pound weight. He was doing the workout regimen that Marines went through nearly every day of their lives. A workout could be the difference from survival or death in a battlefield.

Castle continued with this regimen of his body as it would enable him to survive out 'there'. He practiced small lunges and thrusts to seer volatile explosiveness from his thighs. He worked everything on his body and put it to its uttermost limit. He pushed his body to the point where he literally collapsed as his body would shut down on its own. His body was a shining example of a perfect musculature but still he wanted to push it. He never took off of his shirt but if he did it would reveal a rough body covered in battle wounds from his past.

_You are like a ninja teddy bear _McNamara had once told him.

After what seemed like an hour he started doing yoga until his body was covered in sweat. He decided to do the Iron Crosses to work out his upper body when the door suddenly opened.

S. Turner stood at the door.

She closed the door and without even acknowledging his presence went straight to the mats. She started with some yoga techniques and looked lost in her own world. Castle held onto the Iron Cross for another minute, not trying to impress her as she was not even paying attention to him. He had held on to the cross because he was trying to push his body past to what it was used to in the past. It was the sole reason otherwise he did not like to waste time.

He let go of the cross and took a seat on the seat of a bench press wiping sweat of his face which nearly drenched the towel.

"You might be the only one in this entire building who actually uses this gym."

He removed the towel and found that she was now looking at him with intent clearly showing in her eyes.

She was wearing black leggings with a white Harvard shirt on. It was tight on her and it made Castle a little anxious for some odd reason. It also meant that she was not carrying a weapon. Castle always checked for that no matter who the person was, man or woman, young or old.

"Apparently not. You're here are you not?" he said.

"Well, not to workout at least," she said.

"May I ask what brings you down here?"

"Bad day at the office. Just thought I come down here to relax I guess."

The gym smelled of sweat and was not exactly well lit. it was murky and the last place you would want to be to relax.

"Not an ideal place to relax I have to say," he said.

"Thought this place was deserted all the time so I thought why not?" she answered.

"I thought you knew I used this room."

She said, "I have never seen you down here before apart from tonight. So I presumed that you were the only one who used this room."

Knowing the answer he still asked, "Bad day at the office huh? Where do you work?"

"Almost the whole world knows the place. At the White House."

"Impressive."

"Honestly days like today you would find the place quite depressive and all the glory seems not that impressive. Enough about me. What about you?"

"A closer"

"Baseball?"

"Law Firm."

"Any of the big four in town?"

"Independent. Always have been and probably will be."

Castle wiped his face again. It was suddenly feeling quite hot in here. He rolled the towel and draped it across his shoulders. "I guess I should leave you to relax a bit." He thought she figured out that he really didn't want to leave just yet. Somehow sensing this she looked at him keenly and said, "I am Sophia. Sophia Turner."

"Hello, Sophia Turner."

She put her hand forward and Castle met it half way to shake her surprisingly strong hand.

"May I ask what your name is?" she asked.

"Castle."

"First name or last?"

"Last"

"Your first name?"

He thought about it for a second and replied, "Richard. Richard Castle."

"That seemed harder than usual." She said with a small smile.

Castle replied grinning, "Not the most sociable guy you will ever meet."

"Correct me if I am wrong but were you not at the party the other night?"

"I being there was a surprise for me too. Trust me. It has been a while since I have had a glass of wine."

She smiled again. "Alcohol is not my daily beverage either."

"Would you like to. I mean you don't have to but would you like go out and have a drink sometime?" _What the hell and why?_ Castle had no idea why he had just said that.

"Sure. That sounds great," she replied casually.

"Great. Um I guess good night," said Castle. "Have a nice relaxation."

They locked eyes for a second and went the opposite direction. Sophia took a seat on the mat while Castle closed the door and made his way back to his apartment.

His heart telling him not to do it but his mind urged him to make the call. Castle had to call this in as any contact from a civilian had to be reported. Sophia Turner would be secretly investigated and then a report would be posted telling Castle whether she was a threat or not.

An internal conflict arose in Castle as he decided whether to make the call or not. If he did make the call, what would be normal for him if a normal conversation he just had to be reported? The logical part of his mind told him that friendly people were the most dangerous. But the other half was telling him not to make the call and let this one slide.

If Castle thought about it he was currently living in a world where a simple "hello" had to be reported in. Nothing seemed normal to him anymore. But, he thought that he would not always be working with agency and having a drink with someone was not forbidden in the rule book.

So what if he did? he had to sometime he thought. He exited his building and walked across to the building right across his. He made his way to the elevator and pressed the fifth floor button. On the fifth floor would be an empty apartment which only he and the janitor had the key to. Entering the apartment he saw a world class scope sitting on the kitchen counter. He picked it up and went to the windows which showed the entire front view of his building. He counted from the bottom to the third floor then two doors across his apartment. He adjusted the dials on the scope until the area he wanted to focus on was clear to his eye.

The lights in her apartment were on with the shades pulled all the way up. Then he did what he had done for three days in Al Hoceima. He waited.

After fifteen minutes. He had been counting. Sophia Turner opened the door to her apartment and moved down the hall towards the kitchen. He followed her the entire way with his scope. She took out some milk and picked out a book from her book case and made herself comfortably on the love chair in her living room. She suddenly got up and put the book on top of the glass of milk which was resting on a small table next to the chair. She made her way to the bedroom and shed her clothes to wear something a little more comfortable.

Castle looked away from the moment she entered her bedroom. He had turned his scope off. He had spent nearly sixty grand on this scope and was not going to use it for personal voyeurism.

Short while later Castle walked back to his building.

He wanted to his clear his mind a little and pressed the top floor button instead of the third floor. There was a lock door which led to the roof and only he had the expertise to break open the locks on the door. He opened the door and a fresh breeze greeted his face gently swaying his wavy hair. He walked towards the edge of the roof and looked at the city in front of him.

Looking back at him was the city Washington D.C.

It wasn't New York but the city was still looked beautiful at night. The famous monuments that D.C. was known for looked magnificent in the night shining brightly against the darkness of night. D.C. was probably the sole city in the States that put up a challenge to European cities in terms of architecture and decoration.

But it was a city build upon layers of secrets.

Castle was one of those secrets.

Castle laid down on the surface of the roof and looked upwards to the starless and cloudless sky.

S. Turner. Sophia Turner. Hearing her name in person was way different for Castle then from a debriefing. It felt special.

He had decided to report her for just being friendly with him.

_Bad day at the office. Needed to relax._

Castle could definitely relate to that. He had his days, not bad but tough days surely. He could definitely use a place to free his mind.

For what he was, that would never be a possibility.

He made his way back to the apartment and took a quick hot shower. He suited up. Put the glock in its place.

It was time for him to go to work.

* * *

**Note:** Wrote this on a my way to the Salvador, Brazil :) Hope you liked it unless you are a Caskett fan that is. Appreciate all the alerts and reviews you guys give. Really helps and motivates me to write more.

Peace.

AfroSamurai98


	7. Life can sometimes be a tragedy

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The stuff you see in the movies about how bad foster homes are. Well they are mostly true and if you ask Kate, Hollywood sugar coated most of it. In reality there are many good foster homes but most of them, like this one she worked in as a house maid, were like concentration camps to the kids. She hated herself for not doing anything about it. She _couldn't_.

Currently she was in one of the rooms on the second level of the house. She could hear screams coming from downstairs probably from one of the kids getting beaten by the drugged man or woman who ran the foster home. She was surprised how this place was still running and why both of them had not been pressed with criminal charges. The two people had the kid's pickpocket people around the neighborhood and once they were of age, deal drugs to rich teenagers and adults. This was home to her and had been for the last fifteen years.

She was the age of twenty seven and many would question why she was still working or even staying at the god forsaken place. Illegal immigrants didn't have much of a choice in the U.S. She was five years old when her parents had fled the war torn country of Croatia and by some miracle ended up on the shores of Maine. They had to change their names in order to hide their identities. Her parents moved down to Virginia, the 'bad part' as she would call it when she was a kid, and got into something that would change their lives forever. They had been introduced to drugs and had been addicted to them for as long as she could remember. Her parents owed a massive debt to the foster house owners and even though it pained them greatly they had to give her up to them. She still met them from time to time in the diner where her mother worked. But it would only be a short visit as if she were to be seen with her. It would result in Kate being hungry for the next few days and the threat of deportation seemed probable.

Many times she had thought of going to the police to report these people and did not care if she ended being deported. But in the end she wouldn't do it because her love for her parents still ran deep inside her heart. If she went to the police, they would both be killed. But today she had made a decision. She had it and was going to make a break for it. About a week ago she had overheard the two owners talking to each other about selling her to a person who ran one of the biggest sex trade networks in the country. That had scared her and she would rather die escaping than sell herself to another person. But if she were to escape, she would be leaving behind the kids that she had come to love as her own through the years. The room she was currently in, housed her and two other kids who were each the tender age of five. Both of them seemed scared for her mainly because she was the one person in their lives that had not left or treated them like trash. She felt like the most horrible person in the world when she had told them they could not come along.

Her family had a plan and it just had to work.

After she fed them some food she settled both of them on their beds, "Alright you two I am going to take my leave now. But I promise you that I will get help from somewhere and they will get you out of this bad place alright?"

"Please can we come with you, Kate?" asked the girl with tears shining in her eyes.

She held both their foreheads to her own and softly replied. "I wish I could take all of you from here and take you somewhere safe. But I can't. I am sorry. I will get you help I promise."

The boy who was shaking from the sobs raking through his tiny body said, "What if they don't believe you and we have to stay here forever?"

"They will believe me. They have to. I have proof and god help me if they don't do anything with it. I will come back myself for all you."

Giving one last hug to both of them and tucking them in bed. She opened the window and popped her head out to see if anyone was looking. She slid down the drainage pipe and landed softly on the gravel and ran off into the dark.

A million things were going through her mind but she was focused on one thing in particular.

She was heading home. Her _real _home.

The house she called home was smaller than the place she had just left. She had her escape plan completely planned out in her head. First she took the subway then a bus which would drop her five miles away from where she would walk the whole way. As she got off the train she made a detour to a government building and walked towards the mail drop area and slid a yellow envelope through it. The envelope was intended for a woman who was in charge of the local FBI Narcotics Division. Kate had seen her on TV and she was hailed as a "breath of fire for local drug dealers". Victoria Gates was a tough no nonsense woman and Kate hoped that her proof was enough to get the kids back in the foster home to a safer place. The proof were pictures of the foster home owners doing illegal drugs, beating one of the kids, and selling dope to teenage kids that came to the house. If that didn't do the trick. She would lose all the faith she had left in system.

She gave the government building one last look and headed off west towards her destination. An hour or so later she reached the front steps of her home and thought whether she should go through the front door or not. She decided against it and went to the back door of the house. There was a pot plant placed next to the back door. She picked it up expecting to see the door key but it was not on the ground. She looked underneath the pot and saw a silver key tapered on the bottom with some duct tape. Slowly she opened the door making sure that her parents wouldn't hear her come in. it was dark inside and she tried turning on a light but nothing happened. The only thing that made sense to her was that her parents had not paid the utility bill and the company had shut off their electrical supply. There were a fair amount of windows in the house and the moonlight illuminated enough of the floor for her to get up the stairs to her room.

It had been a long time since Kate had last been in her room. But it was still the same as she had left it. The room looked like a typical teenager's room and looked as though it had blown up throwing clothes, books, magazines, music sheets all around the room. One object that she adored the most was her guitar and it sat underneath the window sill. The moonlight perfectly graced the guitar making it almost look magical. There was no bed instead a mattress lay on the ground but you could hardly see it with all the stuff on it. She knew that her parents had not cleaned the room for two reasons. One being that the mess reminded them of what they still had and loved while the other reason being that both of them knew that she was coming back.

They were far from an ideal family. They had their problems. Some problems may have ruined them but they were still a family.

To society her parents would considered as a bunch of pathetic druggies who had nothing to live for.

Even then they loved her with all their heart.

And she loved them too.

She wanted to be the rock for their unstable lives. She wanted to take care of them as they tried to get their lives together.

At the age of twenty seven, many would imagine themselves living independent lives and striving for success. But to Kate family was everything and if she had to sacrifice some years of her live to care of them. She wouldn't even think twice of it. She was often the 'parent' of the pack and didn't mind it as she felt they were her responsibility.

She looked at the clock which was sitting on top of a pile of books. It was almost midnight. They should be asleep by now and hopefully not in a drug induced one.

They were going a tough time but things were definitely looking up. Her father, Jim Beckett, had been unemployed previously but now was now working at a local grocery store as a cashier. Normally one had to reveal some sort of ID to apply for a job at the store but he had gotten around that by making a fake one and thankfully the store hired him without any trouble. Even though her mother, Johanna Beckett, was an addict she still looked up to her. She had been in the Croatian Liberation Army, the good guys in the civil war that had taken place, and was looked upon with awe by the army men. She would still be in Croatia if she had not gotten pregnant and thought that if she were to give birth, her child would grow up in a free and safe country. Not everything went according to plan but she still worked hard as a waitress in a local diner. Kate had come in peace with fact that both her parents were addicts but they still woke up every day of the week and went to work. Only the drug problem and the debt they owed to the foster home owners had kept them apart for so many years.

But she was home now and hopefully if everything went according to plan, they would be together for a long time to come.

She looked inside one of the pockets in her jacket and pulled out a note. It was from her mother and the note had shocked Kate by its implications. Her mother had written on the letter that they were running away and starting a new life. This excited Kate beyond belief but she had to bottle it in as the foster owners were very watchful of her.

Kate left her room to go check on her parents in their bedroom. She slowly opened the door but they were not inside. She went in and opened the lights to reveal a room that was much cleaner than hers. Cleanliness mattered a lot to her mother and it was quite evident as clothes were neatly stacked in one corner and books were kept in a neat pile at one side of the room. The room had no dressers or any furniture for that matter. Like her room this room also did not have a bed. Instead a king size mattress lay in the middle of the room with lamps at both sides. She walked towards the mattress and picked up the pillow on the right side of the mattress. Her mother always slept on the right and underneath the pillow laid a picture of the three of them in Croatia. It was little too dark in the room but she could still make out the smiles on her mother and father holding her.

The picture was taken when she was two years old and it would take another year for them to leave Croatia. The picture was special to Kate as it represented a time when they were happy even though they were living in a country ravaged with war. Her mother looked breath taking as always while her father looked a lot bigger and stronger than he did now. Years of drug abuse had changed them both drastically physically and mentally as well. Her father was now skinny and weak while her mother, who she thought as a kid was the strongest woman in the world, showed various signs of weakness in physicality. But one thing had not changed. Their love for their daughter had remained the same throughout the years. They had never in their lives abused her and had tried their best to keep her away from the reality that had destroyed their own lives with. They had fed her on a regular basis and kept her warm and safe if they could from the cold nights each winter. Whatever problems they faced outside in the world, they kept it away from her. That's why she loved them and was willing to give this a chance.

_Never give up hope love. It's what keeps us sane_. Her mother had once told her and Kate had held onto it like gold.

Looking at the picture one more time she put the photo back under the pillow. Kate took out the note that her mother had given to her and read it again. As she read it, the excited feeling that she had gotten the first time she had read it came back to her. She was excited about the fact that her family was going to be with her now and they might actually have a chance of a new life. But one thing scared her as she got towards the end of the letter. Her mother had told her that if they do not meet up with Kate. There was cash that had come along with the letter and Kate's mother had told her that the cash was for the contingency plan.

_But nothing could go wrong_ Kate thought. Not after what they had been through. They deserved a second chance.

She exited her parents room and returned to her room to pack anything she might need for the journey ahead.

Then she froze.

She heard low sound noises but that was normal as this house was on the verge of collapse and her parents were awake till the dead of nights. She thought they might have come home.

But all that was pushed aside as she heard a man's voice. She knew it wasn't her father. She would recognize his voice in an instant.

This man's voice was loud and laced with anger. The voice seemed interrogative and was asking her father what he knew. Her father replied and pleaded that he did not know anything.

"LIES. TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU KNOW," the man growled at her father.

Her father cried out in anguish as though something had hit him.

Then she heard a voice that Kate had been cherishing to hear this whole night. It was her mother's voice but instead of a soothing voice it was a frantic plea to the man to leave them alone.

Kate's whole body was shaking as she slowly made her down the stairs.

She couldn't call the police because she had left her phone back at the foster home. Her parents couldn't afford a landline to the house. They were on their own with a mad man in the house.

Then she heard a loud bang which nearly sank her heart. It was a gun shot. _Oh god. No no no. _The initial shock wore off and she ran down the stairs not caring what she might face ahead. Then she saw something which would be engraved in her mind for the rest of her life. Her father was slumped on the wall with a gunshot wound engraved in his neck. Slowly his shirt started bathing itself in her father's blood. His face looked pale as his eyes started to close. Her father was dying a slow death in front of her.

The mad man turned his attention to Kate who stood there in a state of shock. He pointed his gun at her and Kate knew death awaited her.

"KATE NO! SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS!" her mother shrieked in horror.

Johanna Beckett slung herself forward and kicked the man right in the stomach. The mad man grunted and fell on the floor in pain.

"KATE. RUN. NOW." Her mother shouted at her.

"Mom dad…what's going…"

"Katie, please. Run…"her mother pleaded.

Kate's feet had turned into blocks of concrete but she turned around and ran up the stairs. As she had turned she had watched in horror as the mad man got up and smashed the butt of the gun on her mother's forehead.

Tears in her eyes she reached her room and grabbed her backpack. She opened the window and slid down the pipe but half way through her hand slipped and she fell the last three feet. She hit the ground with a thud but she brushed it off and ran off into the dark.

As she ran, Kate heard a second shot in the house.

_No._

_Wake up. Wake up. _

The killer stormed out the front door but Kate was out of sight.

She headed east and the killer went towards the west.

She ran till her feet hurt.

Tears were now free falling from her face. She had failed. Her parents were now dead.

Anger boiled inside her and she promised herself one thing.

_I will find you. And i will kill you. _

* * *

**Note: **Thoughts?

This chapter was really hard to write to be honest and the war in Croatia (i kinda made that up). Brazil is a really awesome place right now and pictures are rolling through my camera. I have already filled two of my 2 GB SD cards already! The country really lives up to its name.

If you guys have any ideas for this story just let me know through a review or a PM :) I really need some help on the Castle/Sophia and probably on the Castle/Sophia/Beckett (jealousy?) angle. Frankly not that good in the romantic writing department and i might need some help in that :)

Be kind to each other.

AfroSamurai98


	8. And So It Begins

**Note: **RATING M.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

Chapter 8

The woman in black quickly made her way across the street to her car. She unlocked the car doors and slid her briefcase in the backseat with care to avoid damaging the kid seats. Her mind was reeling from the day she had as she put the car in drive. Her thoughts were mostly consumed by her two little kids. She was a professional woman, had a nice respectable job, a housekeeper but most importantly she was a mother. Motherhood was tiresome and her stress levels had spiked since her second son was born but at the end of day she loved her kids and loved being a mother.

She wore a black suit, her closet was full of them and she liked the idea of wearing suits rather than dresses to work. She was not a whole hearted feminist or anything; she grew up with a single military dad who thought he had a son rather than a daughter. She worked for an independent law firm and many would to argue that she was highly underpaid for the amount of work she did. She had the highest number Pro Bono cases than any other employee in the firm. To her, the paycheck was smaller but in the end it all seemed worth it.

She stood at a height of five feet eleven, the age of thirty three, and a physique that would surprise many with the fact she had gone through with pregnancy twice in her life. Her first kid was the age of three while the other an year younger. She was in the process of getting a divorce with her husband who wanted half custody. They had grown apart over the years and their differences had become more dominant than what she thought they had, love. She loved her kids more than anything and wanted full custody but with the amount of time she dedicated to her profession, it was hard going for her.

On her way back home she remembered that she had to restock the refrigerator. When she had married the kitchen was not much of a hassle for her but now with two kids in the house, the fridge needed to be restocked every other day. Her mind was still swirling with thoughts of work and her two active kids. She looked in the rear view mirror. _Damn. _She really needed to devote some time to herself. That's motherhood for you.

At the rooftop of a six story building lay Richard Castle on his chest looking down on the streets. The apartment in front of him, where her next person of interest lived in, looked remarkably like his own building. This part of D.C. was under 'renovations' as its only had been three years since two of the biggest drug lords 'moved' out of this neighborhood. Since then it had become a pleasant neighborhood where one could raise a family without the danger of one their own getting killed while walking home from school.

Unlike many apartment buildings in D.C. this building did not have a doorman. Rather it had a locked door which could only be opened with a key card or someone from the apartment. Surveillance cameras were a norm in the city but this entire neighborhood had none. The recession had hit this neighborhood or the whole city if you it into perspective quite hard and the residents just couldn't afford these common security details.

Five months ago he was chasing Kuwaiti prince's and drug cartel bosses. Now he was doing this. The intel on the target was quite brief. White female, thirty-three. The intel had provided him with her picture and address. He normally didn't ask why the target he had been assigned was to be killed but this time he did. The response he received was that she had ties with a terrorist organization and could be a possible sleeper agent. _Possible_. If the government wasn't sure about you, one might as well start completing the bucket list he/she had been making since college. But the neighborhood was what Castle getting his mind around. This was a good neighborhood, admittedly it did not have a nice past but families lived here. The white picket fence, two and a half kids and a wife types lived here. The terrorists he had encountered in the past did not live here but rather in secluded areas where activity was close to none. But then again governments around the world infiltrated terrorist organizations by blending in. The terrorists were just as capable.

But why did she have to die? If he was being honest, he may never know the answer.

He looked at his watch. He had finally, hesitantly, bought a watch but he had tweaked it a little. The glow light was still functional but would only last one second while the inside was rigged with a micro chip that could detect heat temperatures from forty feet ahead. This was a nifty device if he were in a dark tunnel being chased by mad men gunning for his head. The target's building was almost empty as out of a possible fifty person capacity only fifteen people lived in this building. Five people out of the fifteen were on vacation while one was an old lady, who was the closest to the targets apartment, but she was both deaf and blind. According to the intel the target lived alone in a fourth floor apartment. The apartments above and below her were both empty.

_This was just…..too easy_.

He popped his neck and his knuckles and pulled up his hoodie. It was a chilly night and he needed it.

The plan he had set was ready. He checked his earpiece and heard no "abort mission" coming through. It would be way out of character for him but he was wishing for an aborted mission.

Half an hour passed and the spotter had already told him hours ago that the target had entered the building. Of course he had seen all this through his scope and had seen her carrying grocery bags and a briefcase in the other. His scope had landed upon the grocery bags for a second and he swore he had seen baby meal packs in the grocery bag. He froze when he saw that.

_It couldn't be…why would she buy…?_

_Unless…._

He quickly took his phone out and opened an app which stored the backup intel. He looked over the intel carefully. There was absolutely no mention of the target having any children. But he would swear on his life that he had seen the baby meal packs. Maybe he was hallucinating from consuming way too much coffee.

He needed to get this over with and quickly.

Castle hated moments like these. These were the moments where he got analytical about his life and what he would after he was done with this job. The crazy prince's, drug cartels, hell even dictators he could handle. But tonight was a problem for Castle. His 'stone' heart was breaking its resolve. He closed his eyes and put his hands inside his jacket where the glock sat. During tough missions the feel of his weapon would calm his nerves.

But tonight it made him even more nervous.

He looked at his watch and assumed that nearly all of the residents in the building were now asleep. He took out his scope and checked her apartment which was now fully dark with only the night lights in the hallway on. It was nearly two in the morning. She should be asleep by now.

Castle tried to look at the bright of things. At least she would feel no pain. It would be instant. The world would continue to revolve without her. The rich would still be rich while poor got even poorer. Life would go on. Like it always did. The fire escape was his exit and it led straight to an alley. By four a.m. he would be home. He would take a shower and try to sleep it off.

He would wish to forget this night.

But his mind would never let him do that.

* * *

It was time.

The mission had no recalls.

He walked across the street to the entrance and swiped a card which unlocked the door. He was suddenly quite hot and sweaty but still he pulled his black hoodie even tighter around his head. The lightings in the hallway were low but it was visible enough for Castle to see end to end. The carpet underneath looked ancient and looked as though it hadn't been replaced for a while with certain spots pulled up. The paint however looked fresh. It wasn't bad but it needed some major renovation for the amount it took to rent an apartment here.

Castle knew she made a decent pay. Why stay here?

He pushed the thought aside and looked towards the end of the hallway and noticed a steel door with the word 'STAIRS' labeled on it. He headed up the stairs not too fast but not too slow. Castle started to count each floor he passed and when he reached the fourth floor, he exited through a door and closed it gently behind him.

Nearly all the hallways in the building looked the same and this was no different. The room he was interested in would have the number '406' labeled on it.

He took account for the old woman who couldn't hear or see and walked towards her door. He put his ear to the door and listened for any sign of activity. There was none. He assumed she had gone to sleep. He walked towards the targets door and noticed it was a deadbolt. Not every door in the building had these locks and these locks meant that the inhabitant of the place was particularly concerned about their security. But he had mastered the art of picking locks and opened this particular one in less than a minute.

Slowly he opened the door knowing fully that his handler had disabled the alarm system and entered the premises. It was dark inside so he decided to put on his night vision goggles. He walked the small hallway and entered a small living room. He looked around the room and saw the small nightlights that lit up the hallway leading to the bedrooms. The darkness wouldn't be a problem even if he didn't have his goggles on. He had memorized the entire floor plan of the apartment and even the buildings floor plan.

You never know. Expect the worse.

Castle placed his fingers on the glock inside the jacket. The suppressor was already in place. In and out. No time wasted.

He looked around the room and saw a round table with papers spread around it. The woman it seems had brought her work home. A small shelf filled one side of the wall with classic, thriller, fantasy….and children novels?

Castle took a sharp intake of breathe and saw on the carpet underneath the table laden with colored construction paper and small action figures. He saw a paper stuck on the wall just above the shelf which had a drawing of two small stick figures and one big one. It had the words "my family" written on top.

Castle stood frozen to the spot.

His target was a young mother. The intel had not said anything about kids.

The earpiece came to life.

"Mr. Castle, I think you should in the bedroom by now."

The thing that was bugging him since he had been given this assignment had not been the target being a woman. But the fact that he had to wear a pinhole camera on his forehead which produced a live stream and an earpiece during the mission. Not since his stint with Con Ops had he worn these two devices together.

He snapped back into his current situation and like a robot made his way to the targets bedroom.

He stood there and listened for any movement inside the room. There was none expect for a low breathing sound of a woman asleep.

He looked at the doorknob and with his gloved hand opened the door slowly. He stepped through and noticed the bed was right against the window. Outside the window would be the fire escape.

A million things were racing through his mind. But two things were gnawing him on the inside.

_This was just too damn easy. And why her? The children meal packs and novels..._

Apart from the glow emitting his goggles, the room was pitch dark with the moonlight revealing parts of the room. The lean woman was lying down on the bed with her hand draping the right side of bed. She would be found dead on the bed with the cops looking for clues. But they would find none. His glock had special bullets in them. These special bullets were composed of the basic materials that a normal bullet was made up of. But this bullet had organic salt put inside the bullets which would mix with the materials upon impact with the body and would dissolve the bullet inside the body itself. The only thing that would remain is the bullet hole which the M.E. would measure to find out what kind of a bullet it was but tracing the bullet would be impossible. To keep this inside the agency, only top agents like Castle were allowed to use these weapons. This weapon terrified Castle. He was rarely given this weapon and the fact that it had to be fired upon this woman made matters even worse.

_It was the perfect murder._

Castle was quivering as he took out his glock and moved towards the bed. One shot would do the trick, if you knew where to shoot.

Castle had opted to shoot from a distance to avoid blood and tissue splatter on him with a shot to the forehead. Another 'safety' shot to the heart; to make sure the target was dead. The shot to the forehead would have been fatal but the bleed out from the heart would be lightning fast and would surely end one's existence on this planet.

This method was called: _Quick and clean._

Slowly Castle walked to the edge of the bed and lined up his shot to the heart. She was lying flat on her back. Suddenly his mind flashed a memory of his own child playing with her dolls and the innocent smile on her face raced through his head. Another flash, this time of the drawing the someone had made that said "My Family". He bit his bottom lip and tried to concentrate. The children's novels, the action figures consumed his mind. He shook his head again. And then again….

His earpiece came back to life.

"Shoot Castle. Now."

* * *

Castle did not press the trigger. But he may have made a small sound.

A small head protruded from the blankets. He hadn't noticed the little hump in the bed. The little guy yawned and gently rubbed his eyes open. He blinked a few times and locked eyes with Castle holding his pistol towards his mother's heart.

The voice from the microphone shouted in his ears, "Shoot her now!"

Castle didn't move and maintained his stance.

The little now had a frightened look on his face and said in a terrified tone, "Mommy…"

"Castle. I am ordering you to shoot."

The man on the earpiece was now literally screaming on top off his head. Castle had never seen his handler in person. The man had no face. Agency policy. No one could look for anyone's ID.

"Mommy?...please…" The little boy was on the verge of tears now.

"Mr. Castle pull the trigger now. And shoot the kid too."

Castle's mind was racing as his thoughts went to the woman's kid then to the fact he could just shoot the lady and be gone. A big one to the woman's heart and another one to the…..

"RODGERS. SHOOT. NOW," said his handler.

Castle didn't stir. But the woman had.

The little boy's eyes were locked with Castle's as he said in a shaky voice, "Mommy?"

The woman slowly opened her eyes. "Yes, love?" she said in a small voice. "Just a nightmare love. Mommy is right here. Monsters wouldn't dare touch you."

"Mum?"

The little boy was now tugging on his mother's night gown.

"Okay, love. Mommy is awake. Come here."

The woman's eyes locked with Castle's. She lay frozen on the spot. Then in an instant she grabbed her child and held him tightly to her chest.

Then the woman screamed on top of her lungs with her eyes closed.

Castle just simply put a finger to his lips.

It made the woman even more anxious and she started screaming again.

"Shoot now."

"If you want to live. Be quite or I will shoot," said Castle in a calm tone.

The woman was now hysterical and couldn't stop screaming.

Castle fired.

The bullet hit the pillow right next to her. The stuffing blew out and bullet went right through the bed embedding itself onto the floor.

It worked. The woman stopped screaming.

"Castle for Christ's sake just shoot her!" said his handler in a frantic tone.

Castle's eyes were now locked with the woman.

"Stay quiet alright?" said Castle pointing to the kid.

"Please mister. I beg you. Do not hurt us, please," said the woman in a pleading tone. Tears were now free falling on her face.

"Remain quiet," said Castle. His ears were now starting to ache as his handler continued to scream. He swore that if his handler was in the room he would have planted a bullet inside his skull to shut him up.

"Mister please, take whatever you want. Don't hurt us. I beg of you."

Castle remained stoic with his emotions running wild inside him. His gun was still raised at her.

Then the woman faced her child and hugged him even tighter. She held his face to hers so they look into each other's eyes. The little one hiccuped and stopped crying. The boy then he did something that all but broke Castle's resolve. The boy touched his mother's face and said in a low voice, "love you, mum."

At the moment Castle realized something.

His earpiece had gone silent. His handler had stopped screaming.

_Shit. _

Castle lunged forward.

The woman screamed again expecting an attack.

A loud shattering noise broke through the silence.

The window shattered.

What happened next would forever remain in Castle's memory. A bullet pierced through the room and went through the boy's chest and broke through hitting the mother's neck. This shot was from a rifle of a marksman who matched Castle's skill. But he was not thinking about that

The woman's eyes were locked with Castle's as life drained from her. She had a look of surprise on her face as the son and mother slumped on the bed. The mother was still holding her boy. Later he would tell himself that it was his imagination but he swore the mother's grip had tightened on her child as death took both their souls.

Castle just stood there. Gun pointed to the ground. Castle turned his sight to the window.

He was in the line of sight.

His military training kicked in and ducked under the bed. He crawled on the ground away from the window. Then he saw something that shook the foundations under his chest.

Right next to the bed was a baby carrier in front of the bed completely hidden in the darkness. It was on the floor so Castle had failed to notice it. Inside the carrier lay a kid sound asleep.

_No_.

_Shit. Shit. Shit. _

He crawled towards the carrier.

Then his earpiece came back to life. "Get out of the apartment now. Through the fire escape."

"Fuck off to hell," said Castle. He ripped off the earpiece, turned off the pinhole camera and stuffed them in his jacket pocket.

Still on his belly he grabbed the handle of the carrier and tugged it towards him. He was waiting for a second shot but it never came. Castle had enough experience to know exactly what the marksman was thinking. If the target was not in the line of sight, do not fire. Basic protocol. Castle thought how many times he had been the one in the marksman's place and shooting down people. He was the predator. But now he was the prey.

Standing clear of the window he took the child out of the carrier and grabbed some sheets that lay folded on top of the dresser. His mind was now in overdrive. He set himself an objective.

_Get out of the building. Then run. _

With the child secure in his arms he exited the room and then stopped. He ducked and entered the room again. He made his way towards the dresser and took the woman's purse out. He looked through it and found what he was looking for. The woman's driver license and her ID. He took a snap shot of the license and then the ID. Then he noticed something. It wasn't a normal ID.

It was a government ID.

_What the….._

Castle had memorized the intel and it never mentioned the woman being a government employee.

He rummaged through the purse again and found something blue stick out under some cosmetic supplies. He took out the blue object already knowing what it was.

A U.S. passport.

He took out every piece paper, pictures she had taken and took snap shot of each item. A while later he put all her belongings back in the purse, picked up the child again who was surprisingly still asleep and headed to the exit.

He poked his head out the front door and looked left and then to the right.

_Clear_.

The child now had her head buried in Castle's shoulder with her little hands draped around his neck. He slowly made his way to the stairwell making sure she didn't wake. The floor plan of the building was now whirling through his mind. He had memorized all the apartments and the residents who lived in the building. Every single thing that seemed important enough, he mastered it. But this was something he had not expected.

Running from his own people.

He reached the second floor and entered the hallway. His eyes darted left then right and made his way to apartment number 209. If he was correct, the woman in this apartment was a mother of two. A mother.

Through all this the child had slept on. Castle had not really looked at the child and as he wrapped some sheets around her tiny frame, his eyes began to study her.

Her hair were wavy with a hint of red in them. He looked at her face and wondered if she would ever remember her brother. Or even her mother. Castle mouth dried up and his eyes for the first ever since that horrible incident in the past had started to tear up.

Life was just not fair. This was not a tragedy, this way beyond it.

Castle slowly put the child on the carpet of 209. He knocked three times and gave one last look to the kid. He walked away and never looked back. As Castle entered the stairwell, he heard an apartment door open.

The child would live.

If he, by some miracle of god, survived this. He promised himself he would come back for this child and look for a home for her.

But he was damn sure he was going to die.

If he was going to die. He promised himself one thing.

_I will find you. And I will kill you. _

* * *

Castle ran down the flight of stairs and stopped at the first floor. His mind was still reeling from what had just happened. He took a deep breath and went through his options.

He didn't have many but he still had two options that looked feasible enough to pull off.

If he escaped through the rear of the building. He was damn sure that the shooter would be waiting for him. Back in the apartment his handler had advised him to escape through the fire escape. That had told him one thing and one thing only. A bullet to the head if he chose to go through the fire escape.

The other option was looking like his only choice. Front of the building. It even sounded stupid as the area in front of the entrance was well lit and had only a one way entry. He would be a walking bull's eye for the back up team which showed up to clean up messes that agents left behind. The two options left open were the two other sides of the building. His mind had the two options on repeat and he had to decide. And fast.

The blueprint of the first floor was mapping itself in his mind. He had a choice between two apartments: 104 or 111. There was a problem with each of the choices. Room 104 was on the left while the other room led to the right side of the building. The shooter at the rear of the building had the skill to move right or left so he could cover the side and the rear simultaneously. He was beginning to feel trapped.

_Left or right._

Both could lead him to his death.

Castle looked at his watch and started to move then he thought about something.

If he was correct the shooter would be working with his handler. The handler knew Castle well enough to know what his next move might be. His mind was starting to strain under the immense thoughts that were consuming his mind. _Left or right?_.

Before the mission he had scavenged the area surrounding the woman's building. He closed his eyes and remembered that there was a high rise building with small businesses and a strip mall nearby. The building next to the high rise was abandoned and Castle estimated the range of the shot that had shattered the window in the apartment. The shooter had to be in the abandoned building. It would be where _he_ would be. The shooter had plenty of room to roam as the building was abandoned. He would enough time to focus the scope on Castle and end his life.

He thought again. _Left or right?_

Castle's original choice had been room 406, the woman's apartment, as it was closer to the left side of the building. He thought that would where his handler might think he would go. It was closer and appeared safer. What the handler had not anticipated was that Castle had dropped off a child on the second floor and then went down another floor. His mind was examining yet another scenario. The handler would know that he would have to go down as he hadn't bought along anything that would help him repel down the building.

Castle closed his eyes and started to visualize what the landscape would appear like from the shooters perspective. He would be moving to the right. That would be Castle's left. His chest on the ground with the rifle ready to be fired, he would adjust his scope and then wait for Castle to appear out of the darkness.

Castle had yet to make an appearance. Patience was starting to make its presence known to the shooter but it was leaving Castle slowly. Speed would be vital and the shooter would be expecting that. He would be ready. Both these men knew they were trying to outguess the other. Then something struck him. When they are expecting zig why not do the opposite? Zag. The shooter and his handler would be expecting him from the left. But not the right. The kid getting dropped off was something they had not anticipated.

Castle now focused his mind on the right, the shooter on the left; this was a chess game where the outcome was death or failure on the other end. Castle stopped thinking. It was time to take action. Taking a deep breath, like always, he rushed towards the right.

He reached number 201 which was luckily empty due to foreclosure. He had to thank the recession for something this would be it. All the apartments had almost the same layout with difference being how big you wanted your living room. He didn't need his goggles to navigate. The plan was already in his mind. He reached the back bedroom, opened the window and climbed out. He hanged off the window sill and looked down. Then he let go.

Castle dropped nearly ten feet and hit the ground with a hit and roll technique to somewhat cushion the fall. It did but he knew his left ankle would be severely swollen in the morning. He breathed for a second and waited for a bullet to hit him.

He felt nothing. He had guessed correctly. _Checkmate. _Castle ran off in the direction away from the building. He noticed a dumpster in an alley and hid behind it. His back touched the brick wall of the building and he slumped down with his head in his hands. He was shivering. He felt hollow. But now wasn't the time for that and a minute he sprinted off into the darkness

Castle assumed that they haven't seen him leave the building yet or else he would have been dead already. They probably would have made a task force out to look for him by now. They were fast but he wasn't slow either. He knew the procedures but instead of following them. He now had to beat them.

As an agent he always knew that the chances of this happening were slim but there was still a point one percent of it happening. He had made an exit plan because he was the man who lived in the present. Every one of his missions had a contingency plan and now it was time to execute it.

Almost half an hour passed and he had passed twelve blocks. He checked his watch which told him that he had fifteen minutes to spare.

The first stage of Castle's plan was complete. The second part had him taking a bus to New York. The recession looked as though it had hit this place the hardest. The place was dead and company barely had enough money to keep the busses running. The buses condition would have horrified a person who was particular about their hygiene. He wondered if they had even gone through inspection. To make matters worse he was traveling economy.

Using a fake name he paid for the ticket. He enquired when exactly the bus would depart. Another twenty minutes. His destination was New York City, there he would initiate the third part of his plan. He would depart the country but he was still thinking which country would be his best choice. The farther, the better. No matter how homesick he felt. He couldn't come back if he wanted live.

After twenty minutes he made his way to the terminal where the busses on loaded the passengers. It was four in the morning and it was the most dangerous at this time. He kept himself on high alert. He studied the other passengers who would be traveling alongside him. There were currently thirty five people on the terminal but that was good as the bus could hold around fifty people. If the driver seemed lenient and allowed people to pick their own seats. He would try and pick a seat where every man or woman was visible to him on the bus. He noticed that many people carried knapsacks and pillows with themselves. Castle had night vision goggles, a pinhole camera, and a pistol accompanying him on this journey.

Looking at the line of people he deducted that most of these people were the poor working class who were down on their luck. Their appearance made it easy for Castle to assume this. The battered clothes and tired down expressions told Castle that these people were desperate as many people, even with financial constraints, would not chosen to ride this bus to New York city at this hour.

The driver pulled into the terminal lane and halted the bus with a screeching noise indicating that this bus had rusty old brakes. The driver opened the retractable doors and the line started to move. That is when Castle noticed her. He had already counted her but he never really did get a good look on her.

The first thing he noticed was her brunette hair and her tall figurine. She looked around late twenties and looked extremely malnourished. She was skinny, a black jacket tightly secured around her with blue jeans which had holes in them. Her shoes looked as though she had been wearing them for the last three years and her hair seemed a mess but still they framed her face perfectly showing the green of her eyes. She looked up once and that is when Castle saw her eyes. They were mystifying and full of secrets that Castle had no business intervening in. But he swore that he saw tears In her eyes. A backpack hung on her back which she held onto tightly. Her gaze was downwards almost the entire time, looking up only to see how far the line had progressed. She appeared to be breathing hard and Castle noticed that her clothes were covered in dirt.

Most adults carried phones but Castle noticed she appeared to have nothing technology related on her. She was a mystery and he was intrigued. But it was none of his business.

_Yes. He had to leave the country. Concentrate. _

The woman looked up again and Castle attention was again diverted to her.

He looked at the group around him and saw no one that could be related to her.

The line pushed forward and the possibility of the agency finding him here was slim but he didn't want to risk it. His hand tightened on the glock and he kept his gaze downwards and moved forward.

Soon he was the last one to get one the bus. He got in and took a seat towards the back where no one was behind him. Many took their seats towards the front while Castle sat in the last row near the bathroom. He was in a position where he would be invisible to an oncoming person. Thankfully the windows were tinted so the threat of getting shot from the outside seemed improbable.

The girl with the green eyes sat two rows ahead on the opposite aisle. This woman was slowly getting to him somehow.

Castle looked outside the windows and saw a man hustling towards the bus. He rushed in showing his ticket and made his way towards the back. The man looked at the people seated in the front row and moved on. He was late and the last one in.

Castle tightened his hoodie and slid further down his seat. The grip on his pistol was now even tighter and he carefully aimed the muzzle of the gun forward so if the man tried anything. It would in the afterlife. Castle's mind went into overdrive. Had they figured out his contingency plan? Were they onto him and sent this man to finish him off?

The man however suddenly stopped and took a seat behind the woman with the green eyes. Castle's grip on the glock relaxed but he kept his attention on the man.

The woman got up from her seat and took off her backup putting it in one of the overhead compartments. As she reached up her jacket lifted a little which revealed a tattoo that ran along her spine. He couldn't make out the top half of the tattoo but he was sure that it was a dragon.

Five minutes passed and they were on their way. It was quite early in the morning and there were only a few cars around. It was dark outside. Unlike New York, D.C. actually slept at night.

He returned his attention to the man. The man's size and weight were similar to his. He was dressed in slacks with a black jacket on top. Castle surveyed the man's hands and they were gloved. _Great._ The man pulled his seat a little back and made himself comfortable.

This man was not here to relax.

This man had an objective and it may involve in Castle dying on the way to New York.

This was going to be long journey.

_Bring it._

* * *

**Thoughts? **

**Note: **I know this was a dark chapter but in the future i will try to lower down the violence a bit. I had initially planned on not including the bus part but i wanted to end the chapter with a cliffhanger and at the same time leave the readers some hints on Castle and Beckett. Hope you got the book/movie reference i made in the chapter :p

I always appreciate reviews.

Peace.

AfroSamurai98.


	9. You're Not Alone

******Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Just like every single person on the planet. Professional killers were unique and looked 'normal' in every aspect of the word.

Castle was more than annoyed now. He should be more concerned about his life as a potential killer sat just two rows in front of him. But the buses suspension was so horrible that Castle was sure that even the killer was starting to get pissed. The two men however had trained their bodies to be more patient thus both would have to endure this two hundred mile journey. But Castle did not care for that his sole attention was on the woman and the killer behind her. Patiently waiting and watching the killers back for any sign of movement apart from the occasional stretch.

Any agent with even little experience would know to look at things that an average person would choose to ignore in this current situation. Know where your entry and exit points are. Verify all the points where you can get a good angle for a shot and a position where no one shoot you from the back. Read your opponents body actions to figure out their intent. Fall into the darkness. Become invisible to the surroundings. The most important thing, don't let the other person know that you are noticing him.

Castle was now in the process of doing all these tasks without anyone attracting attention. He worked like a machine and knew exactly what he was doing. Throughout his career he had encountered countless men gunning for his head so he knew the drill by instinct. But today he had a strange feeling inside his gut. Twice already. Once in the apartment and now this. A normal person would have given up or gone insane by now but Castle remained calm. He needed to.

If not for himself, he would have to for the girl with the green eyes.

Because he was damn sure the man two seats in front of him was a professional killer.

And the killer had come here for him but for her.

There were two professional killers on the bus.

And Castle now had his eyes set on the second one.

Subconsciously Castle drew his pistol out from his jacket and placed it on his lap with a finger on the trigger.

The woman seemed oblivious by the man's presence behind her and Castle could see a book in her hand. She looked deeply involved in the paperback with her fingers tracing each sentence as she read on. It was a mistake that many made. It made you venerable to your surroundings. Castle noticed she had ear buds on making her an even easier prey. People today were too interested in their phones they were way too busy texting or updating their statuses on Facebook. Music blasting in their ears. Then a strike would come from nowhere and by time one realizes, it would be too late.

To people like Castle they were like sitting ducks.

Castle took a deep breath and lined up his shot between the seat gaps.

The man leaned forward.

It had been nearly thirty minutes since their departure and were now passing a nearly abandoned part of the city. It was still dark outside.

The woman was sitting alone with no one across the aisle from her. The closest one to her was an old lady who was gently snoozing in her seat. The driver had dimmed the lights inside the bus and it seemed the whole bus had now settled down to sleep.

Castle was now in deep thought about how the man go about it. He wondered if the man would use the technique that Marines used, head and neck method (the 'pull pull' technique). A pull of the neck to the right and immediately to the left. The person was dead. There would be no blood or any melodramatic screams. It was a silent kill where a person just stops breathing while he/she twitches for a few seconds and then death takes over silently. People around would be oblivious that a person had just died. But most of them were clueless half the time.

Castle noticed the killer tense up a little.

The woman turned a page and shifted the book a little so the overhead light illuminated the page fully.

Castle sat up in his seat and checked his gun. The suppressor was attached tightly to the gurney but it was of no use as a silenced gun would still make a sound that would wake up the entire bus. But Castle didn't care for that. He had witnessed the death of two people in front of his eyes and he would make damn sure that he didn't witness another.

Suddenly the killer got on his feet and lifted his hands in a certain way that Castle recognized immediately.

He had anticipated it and he was right.

The 'pull-pull' technique.

A silent death of a woman.

But not today.

* * *

Castle expected a lot of things, it was an occupational hazard, but what happened next was something even he wouldn't have predicted.

The killer was now screaming in anguish.

Castle would have too if someone pepper sprayed him from out of the blue. He had been sprayed once and it wasn't pleasant.

The woman with the green eyes, to Castle's amazement, was still reading the paperback like nothing had happened. She hadn't even moved from her seat less turn around. The woman had expertly sprayed backwards over her shoulder right in the man's face.

He was still screaming on top of his lungs and tried to ease the pain by rubbing them gently with one of his hands. Still the man was a professional killer and moved forward with vengeance clouding his thoughts. One of the killer's hands almost made it to the woman's neck when Castle head butted him with the butt of the pistol which sent the man crashing down on the floor.

The entire bus was awake and now looking at Castle with eager eyes including the green eyed woman. The killer groaned loudly and their attention turned towards him. The old woman started to scream. The driver, suddenly realizing he had to do something, stopped the bus and put into park and turned out around facing Castle.

"What the hell's going on back there?" yelled the driver who was now facing Castle filling up his chest to look somewhat in command of this situation.

But all of the machismo nearly drained when he laid eyes upon Castle's pistol .

The old woman was now screaming at the top of her lungs with her fingers fiercely clutching a blanket.

"Tell me. What do you want from us?" said the driver in a shaky tone to Castle

Castle looked down at the killer and looked back up at the driver. "This man was trying to harm this woman so I did what I had to do. I stopped him."

The driver did not seem convinced. Castle looked at the green eyed woman hoping for support. But she looked at him and said nothing.

"Mind helping me out and tell them what exactly happened right now?" Castle prompted.

Yet again the woman just looked at him and said nothing.

Castle looked at the driver. "I repeat. This man was trying to harm this woman and she took action by pepper spraying him in the face."

Castle again looked at her and in a moment's notice snatched the can from her hand and held it in the air.

"Like I said. Pepper spray," said Castle.

The passengers looked at the can and then turned their attention to the woman.

The woman looked back at them unfazed by the looks they were giving her.

"You punk tell me what really happened!" exclaimed the driver.

Castle sighed.

_Patience is a virtue. _

"This man was on the verge of attacking the woman. She then pepper sprayed him with this can. He almost attacked her again and then I finished him off."

"Still doesn't explain the gun in your hand punk," said the driver accusingly.

"You can check. I have a permit for it."

Then Castle heard what he was avoiding from the start. Police sirens.

His mind went back to the two bodies at the apartment, were they on to him?

Castle had one of his feet on the killer's chest who was now starting to stir. He pressed his feet harder. "Down," Castle ordered. He looked back at driver. "I think you should call the cops." He then diverted his attention to the woman. "Any problem with that?"

The woman in response rose from her seat, pulled her backpack from the overhead compartment and headed down the aisle towards the driver.

"Stop. You can't leave miss," said the driver holding both his hands up.

Castle noticed the woman taking something out of her jacket and showed it to the driver. All Castle could see from this angle was the woman's back and he couldn't see what she was holding in her hands. _A gun? _But whatever it was, it scared the driver to death as he retreated with a terrified look on his face. The old woman started screaming again.

Castle hesitated but got on one knee and tied the man's arms and legs with the a belt behind his back. The killer was now completely immobile. Castle looked at the man's face memorizing it and walked down the aisle. He stopped at the exit and turned his attention to the driver who was now sweating completely drenching his uniform. Castle knew the feeling.

"I think you should call the cops," said Castle turning around to walk out the exit.

"Who are you?" asked the driver.

If Castle were to tell him who he was, which he wouldn't, the driver would be dead before the end of the day.

The woman had already exited the bus and was now walking towards a direction which Castle was sure that the woman didn't know where it would lead her.

Castle increased his pace and a few seconds later caught up with her around a street corner

"May I ask what you showed him?" Castle asked in his most relaxed tone.

The green eyed woman turned around and faced him. She looked at him for a few seconds then rummaged in one of her pockets and produced a grenade.

Castle seemed unfazed by it. "Dangerous weapon if it were only real. It's plastic."

"The gentlemen in the bus thought otherwise."

Castle looked at her face with keen interest. The woman's voice sounded quite deep and laced with confidence. Not what Castle expected from a woman who had just been attacked. Well almost attacked. But he couldn't help but think that she seemed shaken and was putting on this front of a tough, independent, "i don't need your help" woman. She was hiding something. The bus was now at a distance and both of them started walking again.

"Who are you?" asked Castle

The woman didn't reply and kept moving forward. The police sirens were now starting to get close but soon they started to fade as both of them were now at a considerable distance from the bus.

"The man on the bus. He was there for a reason. He wanted to kill you. Why?"

The woman didn't reply and walked ahead of Castle.

_Stubborn woman_.

She walked across the street and slipped between two parked sedans. Castle followed her and did the same. The woman let out a frustrated groan and started running down the street. Castle did the same. He grabbed her arm and turned her around so she could face him directly.

"Stop this and listen to me when I am talking to you…."

What happened next was something neither of them saw coming.

In an instant a loud explosion broke through the night and both of them were thrown off their feet.

* * *

_Fuck me._

Castle couldn't hear or see anything. His body was in pain but it was still functional as he bought his palms to his face gently rubbing his eyes. He finally opened his eyes and looked around him not knowing how long he had been out. He looked at his now cracked watch which indicated that it had not been that long. The street was still empty with no cops or first responders in sight. Apart from him and a now completely annihilated bus, there was no one in sight. The bus was now in flames as the metal burned furiously with the flames dancing in the early morning night. Castle could see the skeleton of the bus slowly melting under the immense heat. Castle closed his eyes and thought there was no possible way anyone would have survived that. He sat up on his knees and looked at the gravel underneath and started punching it relentlessly.

_WHY. ALWAYS. ME. _

He slowly composed himself and saw around him an area which was nearly deserted apart from the homeless who had found refuge here.

Castle saw an old man come out of an alley with a shopping cart full of cardboard and whatever useful trash he could find. The old man didn't seem to notice Castle as he looked at the flaming bus which was now a full on bonfire. The old man turned around and called out into the alley way. "Damn, you guys got anything to grill. It's like the fourth of July out here."

Castle squeezed his knuckles slowly getting up on his feet. His body was badly bruised. His legs shook from the immense toll they had taken from the day. But it would get worse in the morning. Castle did not care for that. There was one survivor, hopefully. He looked around for the woman and saw her body next to the tire of a van whose side windows were blown out by the blast. She had landed nearly fifteen feet away from him. His mind was screaming at him to run before the police arrived but he didn't. Castle slowly made his to the woman who had her face plastered on the road. He turned her over gingerly to avoid any further damage. She looked broken, vulnerable, the exact opposite of the woman he had met just a while ago. He placed his finger on an artery to check for a pulse.

_Please_. _Live. Just please be alive. _

His mind was put to ease as he found a strong pulse flowing through her body and he breathed a sigh of relief. He checked for injuries or any blood but there was none. Apart from a few scratches on her face and arms she looked fine to Castle. She would be sore in the morning but she would live to see another day.

A few minutes later the woman opened her eyes.

The green filling in her eyes as she regained consciousness slowly.

Castle noticed that the plastic grenade was still tightly clutched in her hand.

"Tell me something. Did you leave a real one back in the bus?"

She sat up slowly as her eyes focused on the bus which was now completely demolished.

She looked at the bus but showed no emotion and said nothing.

"By the looks of it someone really wants you dead," said Castle. "Dare I ask why?"

She closed her eyes and bit on her bottom lip. Castle thought he had her but instead she got up and looked for her backpack. She walked across the street and looked underneath the now dislodged cars. She squatted and pulled out the backpack from underneath the car and dusted it off. She shook the sack gently putting each strap over her shoulder. Finally she looked at Castle who looked as though he could be her dad with the height difference.

Her eyes roamed his body and said, "Where's your gun?"

That was a good question. He had completely forgotten about his weapon. He looked around and squatted underneath some cars which revealed a storm drain. The impact from the blast had thrown him ten feet away. The gun might have been knocked out of his hands and fallen in.

"I would find it if I were you."

Castle turned around and looked at her. She was studying him quite keenly from a few feet away.

"Why?"

"It might come in handy."

"Why?" he asked again.

"Why? You've been seen with me."

He rose from his squatting position dusting off his clothes. He heard police sirens from a distance. They were finally responding. The sirens were getting louder; some responder's were heading their way. The old homeless man was now maneuvering around the bonfire yelling what Castle thought was him wanting some s'mores.

Castle returned his attention to the woman and said, "And why is that of any significance?"

The woman pointed towards the bus. "Either you have gone half blind or you are more stupid than I thought you were."

He looked at his surrounding once more in hope of finding his gun but gave up and walked towards her.

Castle said, "Okay you need to go to the police. They would protect you."

"That's a joke right?"

"You think they can't protect you?"

"Honestly, you should get out of here right now."

Castle said, "If I left, there would be no one left to tell the police what happened here."

"What do you think happened?" asked the woman her eyes now glued with Castle's.

"The bus had thirty five passengers and they are now dead. Including the person who wanted you dead."

"Just a theory. Do you have any proof?"

"The proof is that bonfire right there. The rest is up there, presumably," said Castle pointing to her forehead.

"Again. Just a theory."

With that she turned around and walked off towards the corner of the street.

Castle sighed watching her for a few moments. "No matter where you go, they will be a step ahead of you. You can't do this alone and you have already screwed up or…."

"Or what?"

"Someone ratted you out."

This caught her attention and she turned around asking, "What do you mean?"

"By the looks of how things have gone along it seems to me that they were following you or were waiting for you. Honestly, it seems like a set up. They knew your game plan, they knew about the buses departure time and destination. They knew everything. Either you screwed up monumentally or they followed you or maybe someone you trusted sold you out. It's either one or the latter."

She remained silent and looked over him towards the bonfire which was now surrounded by a crowd of homeless people.

Castle broke the silence asking, "How did you know the man was about to attack you? He had clear shot at you and it was from your blind spot."

She replied, "The window and the overhead light cast a shadow which could only mean that someone was behind me. I saw the shadow of his hands fall on my book. So I reacted accordingly. Simple science really."

"But you were reading."

"I was pretending. I mean think about it. The dude passed three empty rows and sat right behind me. It made me think and I did the math. Also i saw him avoiding my gaze when he got on. I could read him like a book."

"You recognized the individual when he got on?"

"Not sure, maybe."

"Three rows and on the opposite aisle. I was behind you."

"Too far from me to do any damage."

"So you spotted me too?"

She shrugged and replied, "Honestly you just get used to notice things around you when you don't have music blasting in your ears."

_Great minds think alike. _

"Back up a little. The killer on the bus followed you to the bus. Was he chasing you?" asked Castle looking down on her pants which were covered in dirt. "It looked like you took quite a tumble before you got on the bus."

She didn't reply looking down on the ground which suddenly seemed the most interesting tarmac in the world for her.

There was a moment of an awkward silence between them apart from the bonfire and the homeless praising some higher power for the heat.

This was a bad dream that Castle knew he won't be waking up from for a long time.

He broke the silence again. "You can't do this alone."

She didn't look up and Castle noticed that her knuckles were now sheer white clutching the strap's of the backpack. For the first time today she seemed almost scared.

"So what do you suggest I do?"

"The best thing for you to do is to wait for the cops but I know you won't so you can come with me if you like."

This caught her attention and eyed him carefully. If it were anyone other than Castle, the person would have shivered by the look she was giving him right now. "With you? Where?"

"Definitely some place safer than here."

"Why don't you stay here instead?"

His eyes were glued to hers and for some reason he had this weird feeling that this woman did not want to leave his side. The sirens were now nearby making him uncomfortable.

She eyed him coolly and said, "You know the gun and you being in the bus at this hour. I wonder if the explosion had something to do with you rather than me. But on the other hand you do look the type."

Castle raised his eyebrows. "I don't understand."

"What I mean is that you and that killer man looked different than any other person on the bus. Both of you don't fit the role of riding that crappy bus in the middle of the night to New York. You weren't dressed correctly. That was a mistake both of you made."

"Okay have it your way. You want to go off alone? Go right ahead. I will not stop or follow you. But know this; you leave my side it's over for you."

She bit her bottom lip again and looked over his shoulder once again at the burning mass.

"I didn't want this to happen. I swear. I don't want anyone else to die because of me," she said in quiet voice that Castle barely heard.

"Who else is dead?" asked Castle

But he looked at her once and saw a woman who was on the verge of letting go and crumple to the ground crying. His eyes softened and even if he didn't know who she was or what she had done, she needed someone to hold on to and Castle would, god knows why, willingly fill that role.

She rubbed her face fiercely and looked up at him. "Tell me something. Who are you?" she asked.

"I am a person who stumbled upon something terrible and he will do his best to not forget about it till he finds out why."

"I don't trust anyone. You should know that," said the woman.

"I wouldn't either if I were you."

"So now where off to now captain?"

"A place where we can reside safely for the time being," replied Castle looking around to see if any responders were heading their way.

"Honestly, I don't think a place like that exists," she said in a broken voice not caring what he thought of her.

He looked over her shoulder then locked eyes with her which threatened to unleash a reservoir of tears. He knew that she hated looking like an emotional wreck in front of a man who she didn't even know. But he knew the feeling that sometimes you just couldn't hold it in.

"Me either," said Castle.

* * *

Castle was lost in thought as the entire roller coaster of a day replayed in his mind. He always had an escape plan ready for every mission he received from the agency. The agency didn't know of his escape plan or the fact that he owned a safe house too. However there was one problem. There was not supposed to be another person with him so he decided to drop Plan A and opted for Plan B.

Plan B to Castle's dismay was getting complicated each passing mimute. He remained calm but frustration was starting to creep up on him.

He had his night vision goggles on and swept each alley when they reached a corner. It was only a peek but it would be enough for him to catch a glare off a scope from a sniper.

Seeing nothing that would require action he removed his goggles and moved back into the shadows where the woman was standing.

"What's your name?" asked Castle snapping her out of a haze.

"Why?"

"It doesn't have to be your real name. Just give me something to call you," said Castle.

Castle knew she was the secretive type and wouldn't give away her name to anyone.

The woman hesitated. "Kate."

"Now that wasn't so hard now was it Kate? You can call me Castle."

"Real or fake?"

"Is yours real?"

She didn't reply and look passed him into the darkness. Thirty minutes or so had passed as they covered nearly ten blocks. Thankfully the sirens receded more and more as they passed each block. Castle knew this woman had agreed to follow him but she had not committed herself fully to stick with him to the end. However both agreed on the fact that they needed to put a distance between them and the explosion site.

Castle turned his attention to the streets and wondered what the scene was like back at the bus. If they followed standard procedure, the first responders would look for the cause of the explosion. Their first explanation would be a terrorist plot or a gas tank explosion. Castle put on his goggles and slightly poked his head out of the alley. He then saw what he was fearing from the start, a tiny glimpse.

He turned his attention back to the woman who was lost in thought staring into the darkness. Castle sounded a small 'Tsk' which snapped the woman out of her thoughts.

"I think we have been followed and he's out there," said Castle in a low voice.

"Where?"

Castle simply pointed over his shoulder not even bothering to turn around. "I think we are being tracked by a GPS transmitter chip. You have any electronic device on you?"

"Yeah but they are clean i checked. Do you ever wonder that maybe they are better than you."

Oh this woman knew how to push his buttons.

"Trust me if you want to live. You better hope that I am better than them or we both die. You carry a cell phone? I noticed you don't carry one but do you?"

"Nope," she replied.

"Don't all adults carry cellphones?"

"You would be surprised."

"How old are you?" asked Castle.

"Why don't you answer that first?" she replied

"Thirty-Five."

"Damn you look like a forty year old man."

"Why thank you and trust me I feel like fifty now. How old?"

She didn't reply immediately. "Can I lie? Like my name," she asked gingerly.

"I guess, but don't say a number over thirty. That would be the whitest lie anyone would have told me."

"Twenty-nine."

"Fair enough."

"Do I look twenty-nine?"

"Not going to answer that. It's a trap," Castle replied.

That earned him a quiet laugh which lifted Castle's spirit considerably. Her laugh was dangerous and it suited her.

The street they had come from was empty with Castle's gut feeling telling him to not go back the way they had come from.

"You said you saw someone. Is there anybody out there?" she asked.

"It was a light reflection from a glass just like yours in the bus."

"But that could be anybody."

"Ever seen a scope before? They are unique in every sense of the word and emit a reflection that is quite distinguishable from other things."

"Oh, okay."

Castle cracked his knuckles and studied the walls surrounding them in the alley. He looked up and an idea popped in his head.

"Afraid of heights?" he asked.

"No," she replied instantly. _Liar_. Castle looked to his left and saw a dumpster. He looked through it and a few seconds later he started pulling out a lengthy rope that someone had thrown away. While tying knots he looked back in the dumpster and saw plywood sitting there underneath the garbage. He was damn lucky today. He took the plywood which would act as base for them to stand on.

"Okay I want to you to strap your backpack as tightly as possible alright?"

"Why?"

"No time for questions. Just do it."

She hesitated and finally gave in strapping the backpack tightly around her.

"What exactly are we doing?"

"Climbing."

Without asking her he holstered her up in the air and positioned her on top of the plywood which was sitting on the rim of the dumpster. He then hoisted himself on top of it.

"Alright what now?"

"We climb."

She looked at him in wonder then towards the brick wall of the building.

"Castle, can we really do this?"

"Again. Questions later. Now we act." He motioned towards his shoulder. "Okay stand on my shoulders."

"Castle. No."

"Do it and aim for that," said Castle pointing towards the fire escape ladder which was higher off the street level due to its lock position.

"I don't think I can reach it."

"It's either this or we make a run for it completely exposing ourselves to the shooter."

That did the trick and he lifted her on to his shoulders then grabbed her by the ankles, Marine style, pulling her up even higher. She reached out as far as her arms would allow but she was a foot short of the target. He gently placed her back down.

He looked down at the rope thinking what his mentor McNamara would do in this situation. He took the rope and threw it at the bottom step of the ladder. He tied an old fashioned knot and climbed up the ladder. After climbing he threw back the rope back down to Kate. But she didn't budge.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Not that great of a climber. I flunked PE," she confessed shyly.

"You don't have to be an expert. Just tie the rope around your backpack tightly."

She followed.

He added, "Okay good. Now cross your arms tightly around your straps so your backpack doesn't fall off."

She did what she was told and to her shock he started pulling the rope with little or no effort.

Few seconds later she was level with him. Castle senses started to tingle. He knew they were in trouble. He heard the sound of running feet from a distance. That was definitely not a good sign.

"Alright now climb as high you can okay?" said Castle in an urgent voice alerting her.

As she started up the ladder, Castle turned his attention back to the alley entrance waiting for whoever came running around the corner.

* * *

The man hustled towards the alley where he thought his targets were. He stopped at the alley entrance and poked his head out the corner to clear the lane and moved forward. Three, four, six yards in he stopped then looked towards his left and then to his right for any sign of movement. He felt and saw nothing. He started moving forward again. His MP4 in position to fire. He looked towards the end of the alley where the dumpster was and clicked open a light on top of the gun. He slowly moved forward his eyes moving left and right for any sound or movement. He was good but he should have looked up.

Upon realizing that, his face was planted with the two feet of Castle which landed on his face and crushed him to the ground.

Castle knew he had got him but as soon as he landed on top of the man he rolled off him and stood up in an attacking posture. The MP4 lay on the man's side. Castle kicked it away from the man's reach. He looked down at the man and wondered if he was dead. Unconscious, probably, but whether he was dead or not he really didn't care. he decided to do a quick search on him.

It was time wasted as there was no ID or phone on the man. _No surprise_ he thought.

He checked one of the man's pockets and found a GPS device with a blinking blue light illuminating the night. It was a tracking device. Castle dropped it on the floor crushing it under his boot. Castle knew how hitmen 'dressed' for their job and found a .50 caliber gun attached to his ankle. He tucked the gun inside his jacket and jumped on the plywood onto to the rope and then to the ladder. He cut the rope, rolled it up and then pocketed it for later use.

While climbing the ladder Castle noticed that Kate had almost reached the top of the building.

"Dead?" she asked looking down at the alley.

She had probably seen the entire confrontation.

"Didn't check. We have to move higher up."

"How? The ladder doesn't go higher than this and we are at the top."

He pointed up towards the roof which was a little more than ten feet above from where they were.

She obviously did not favor climbing.

"Okay, wait here."

They were next to a window sill and he grabbed onto it. There was a brick next to the window with a crack in it. He placed his fingers on the brick and in less than two minutes he climbed like a professional rock climber and was on the roof. He lay on his stomach and took out the rope from his pocket. He uncoiled it sliding it down towards Kate.

"Just like before Kate. Tie the rope tightly around your backpack and put your arms together."

"Castle, don't drop me alright?" she said in a shaky tone.

"Just don't look down and close your eyes," he replied in a calming tone. "I lifted you before and you are light as a feather."

"You are quite the charmer aren't you?"

"I try my best," said Castle with a small smile on his face.

A few minutes passed and she was next to him on the roof.

The roof was a rough terrain composed mostly of gravel. Castle navigated Kate across the roof to the opposite side in a ducking stance and looked down on another alley. Thankfully there was another fire escape on the opposite side and tied the rope around Kate tightly. As he tied the knot around her, Castle caught a waft of her smell, it wasn't sweat but rather she smelled remarkably like cherries. He slowly lowered Kate to the ladder and soon they were both on the metal fire escape.

"Castle won't we have the same problem down there?" asked Kate questioningly.

"Oh we would but only if we were going down the whole way," replied Castle scanning the alley underneath them.

Castle hustled and both of them were now on the third floor of the building.

"Stop here," said Castle as he peered in. He then used knife to open a simple lock on the window.

He lifted the window and prayed that any alarms don't go off. None did.

"What if someone's in the apartment?" hissed Kate poking a finger on his back.

"We'll say sorry and leave where we came from. Simple," replied Castle.

That earned him a stare which made him quite uncomfortable.

The apartment turned out to be empty.

They entered the premises quietly and made their way towards the entrance door. Upon exiting they ran towards the stairs of the apartment building. Few minutes later they hustled towards the opposite direction they had come from previously

Castle reduced the pace and said, "I think you have a tracker on you. That would explain how they found us."

"How do you know that?"

"I did a quick search on the guy and he had a transmitter which showed exactly where we were. I smashed it but that's useless unless we find the source. Let's look through your backpack."

Not wasting any time they both rummaged through the backpack. It had all the essentials, clothes, toiletries, a camera, papers, pens, and what amazed Castle the most were the amount of books that came out of the knapsack. He noticed a red colored iPod underneath some books and took out the casing which didn't reveal anything that shouldn't have been there. They looked through every item and found nothing. Satisfied there was no sign of a tracker he gave the backpack back to her.

"Nothing."

"I think the tracker might be on you," said Kate.

"Impossible," said Castle.

"You can never be too sure."

Castle almost replied back but thought it would be wise to check through his belongings once. He rummaged through his pockets taking out the earpiece and pinhole camera.

_Of course._

He took out front lens of the camera and saw the same blue light he had seen before tonight.

"Ah. Mr. Perfectionist makes a mistake. It was you after all. I knew," Kate said in a smugly triumphant tone.

He saw a garbage can near the alley and tossed the two items in the can.

He thought of replying back to her but in the end decided not to. She had been through a lot and had a triumphant look on her face. He didn't want to take that look away from her.

Castle looked around and saw no cabs passing by. That was a good thing. He didn't want anyone else getting interrogated or worse tortured to tell them his safe house location.

He looked across the street and saw an old Mustang sitting there for what seemed like ages. He walked over and like an expert pick locked the car. It opened and thankfully the old spark trick worked in igniting the car into life. He adjusted the drivers seat and noticed that the passenger seat was empty. Kate was not there. He looked back and saw her a few feet away from him.

"So you deciding to venture out alone?" asked Castle.

She didn't reply clutching her straps on the backpack tightly looking at the car with keen interest. Castle reached inside his pocket and took out something that belonged to her.

It was the pepper spray can.

"I think you might need this more than me."

She looked at it for a second then back at him. She took the can, stuffed it in her pocket, then walked around the car opened the passenger door and got in.

Castle took a sigh of relief as he put the car in gear and drove off slowly into the night.

"So why the sudden change of heart?" asked Castle.

"People use weapons to their advantage. Not give them back." She paused. "Plus you saved my life back there. Twice already."

"Sounds fair enough."

"Tell me something."

"What?"

"Someone is obviously after me but who is after you?"

"We are both being chased and you don't know whose chasing you. But I do and trust me you are better off not knowing. It would be bad for your future," said Castle.

"I doubt I have one," she said wearily.

A moment of silence established between them as they both stared ahead.

A few minutes later he heard soft sniff emerge from his side.

"You thinking about somebody?" asked Castle in a quiet tone.

Her eyes were fixed ahead with tears she didn't dare let fall. "No and please don't ask me again alright Castle?"

She pulled up her legs and buried her face in her hands. She looked weak and clutched her knapsack straps even closer to her chest, she was finally letting go he thought. Castle could read people expertly and deduced that something terrible had happened to her. He didn't know what but if fate were on his side and the massacre back in the apartment had not occurred he would have made damn sure to inflict the same amount of pain on the person responsible for this woman's tears that didn't dare fall.

"Just know this," he paused for a second then continued. "You're not alone."

Castle put his foot on the gas driving faster.

This night had taken a massive toll on him. On _both_ of them. But he had a gut feeling that it was about to get much worse.

* * *

**Unknown Location.**

_"Is the plan still active?" _

_"Yes my brother."_

_"How much longer?"_

_"Patience my brother. The pieces have started to fall."_

_"Is the plant safe."_

_"She is."_

_"Do you have all the money?"_

_"Yes. May god praise your generosity."_

_"I'll call later."_

_"Indeed but the next time the west shall be on its feet."_

* * *

******Authors Note: **I have really been busy these few days mainly because i was in the Amazon Forest for about two straight days without sleep. Life of a photographer. It would be fun they said. All that aside i am really starting to get an idea which direction i want this story to go and i am thinking of doing a Castle POV for the majority of the story with some Kate POV. Let me know by a review or a PM what you think of that. Hope you like this chapter that i wrote on a gondola in the Amazon River on my way back to the hotel. As always thank you to the people who have reviewed and alerted this story so far.

p.s. If you are a fan of Sci-Fi fan i really recommend watching this new show by the name 'Continuum'. It's awesome :) and plus if you haven't already watched the show 'Suits' go do it now! It's a pretty good remedy for a Castle-less summer :p

Peace.

AfroSamurai98


	10. Scumbag With a Heart

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything. All rights are owned by ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

It was almost dawn. In a few minutes the moon would disappeared into the horizon. The sun would rise slowly waking the people from their night slumber. A new day would begin. The black Mustang rumbled through the night fog tearing past cars with ease. Castle was wide awake with his eyes fixed on the road ahead. His eyes were starting to strain but he kept them open. At least one of them had to be awake. He saw an oncoming convenience store and decided for a pit stop. It would be their first stop since their departure from the alley way. Picking up a few supplies he drove towards an gravel roadway which led to a small farmhouse. He looked towards his right and saw Kate sleeping with her hands still clutching the straps of the backpack.

Pieces of her hair were gently strewn across her face. She looked peaceful. Breathing in slowly she appeared to be sleeping, Castle's almost shook her awake but decided against it remembering what she was capable of. His thoughts went back to the bus and thought how easily she had taken out her assailant. Don't surprise her or get prepared for a pepper spray to the face. He cleared his throat.

"We're here," he said rather loudly.

Her eyes instantly opened. She ignored the usual process of waking up, she didn't yawn; rub her eyes or even stretch. She was just simply awake.

He was impressed. Mainly because that is exactly how he woke up every day.

She looked ahead. "Where are we?"

The car had come along a gravel road. Trees surrounded the house making it almost impossible to spot from the main road. The road had led them to an old western house. The front door stood out with a vibrant white color painted on it, four windows, and a small porch. Towards the back a shed stood at the apex of the house.

"Safe," he replied. "The safest place for now at least."

She looked around and her eyes spotted the shed. "Is this like a farm or something?"

"Yeah I guess you could say that. It was owned by a farmer I knew. He gave it to me for half the retail price. The woods were becoming uncontrollable so he ended up bailing out of here."

His agency had provided him with various safe houses but he needed a failsafe. He decided to buy this place under a fake oil company name. This was his place alone. The agency had no way of tracing him

"Where _exactly_ are we?" asked Kate looking at the house with intrigue.

"Outskirts of D.C.," replied Castle.

"You own this place?"

He put the Mustang in gear and headed towards the shed. He turned off the headlights, got out, opened the shed, and drove inside. Killing the engine, he grabbed the supplies he had purchased, and said, "Let's go."

Kate followed. Castle opened the back door which sounded the alarm. It stopped when he punched in the code and opened the lights. He put his body in front of the keypad so she couldn't see the code he had punched in.

She walked in as Castle closed the door.

"So where do I go now?" she asked looking around.

He pointed to the stairwell right next to the kitchen. "There are two rooms upstairs. Pick whichever one you like. Bathroom is across the hall."

"Okay."

"Hungry?"

"Rather sleep."

"Fair enough." He nodded towards the stairs in a prompting manner. He then noticed the pepper spray can in her left hand.

"Oh yeah before you leave make sure you don't shoot yourself with that spray can of yours. It hurts like a bitch upon contact."

She looked down at the can and then back up to Castle.

"You had it pointed straight at me the entire drive here. I would have done the same. Get some sleep," said Castle.

She walked up the stairs then stopped midway turning around facing Castle. "Good night."

"Until tomorrow."

"Why not just say a simple 'night'?" she asked clearly amused with his reply.

"'Night' is boring, 'Until tomorrow' is more…..hopeful," Castle replied.

She turned around with a smile on her face then went up the stairs. He stayed there until he heard her shut the door, opened it again and then locked it.

Smart woman.

Castle went into the kitchen, restocked the cabinets, and sat down at the round table in the living room. He set the glock on the table and took out his phone. He took out the casing checking thoroughly for any trackers. He knew that he had disabled the GPS on the phone. He had to as it could work both ways. The tracker in the pinhole camera, he had not expected that. He had to be extra careful since then.

The agency would have anticipated him not killing the mother so they had a tracker placed on him if he went rouge.

It was a set up from the very start. Fantastic.

Now he needed to know why.

He opened the pictures app and scrolled through the pictures he had taken of the dead mother's ID.

The picture of the driver's license stated that her name was Elena Davenport, age thirty three. The photo on the license looked at him eerily. The woman would be now on the medical examiners table with an expressionless face and a rifle wound in her neck. Her child would also undergo an autopsy. The child's developing body had taken the rifle shot head on; the boy would no longer have a recognizable upper body. It made him cringe a little inside.

Castle scrolled through the set of passport pictures he had taken including the pages inside it. He had to enlarge the image a bit to see which countries she had visited. In total there were nine countries, most of them European, her most recent visit being Germany. That was normal as millions of Americans visited European countries throughout the year. But then he saw the countries Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait stamped on the passport. She had visited these countries on an yearly basis. That was definitely not normal.

Castle continued scrolling until he saw the picture of the Government ID card.

Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense.

He stared at the screen with a look of utter disbelief and shock on his face.

Shit.

_Shit_.

He was screwed _big _time.

He might as well be dead rather than face the shit storm the upcoming days. If he survived these next few days that is.

He opened the mobile browser on his phone and scrolled through major, local news sites for any information on Davenport's death or the bus explosion. None of the news sites had anything on Davenport. She might still be in the apartment. The bus explosion however had caught the attention of various news sites. But the details were scarce. Castle obviously knew more than any of the reporters on the scene what exactly had happened. According to various news articles, the investigators were not ruling out a mechanical fault for the explosion.

That would be the explanation in the end as well, thought Castle, unless they found something else to tell otherwise. If he thought about it a bus exploding in the middle of the night with no damage to the surrounding vicinity would not be that high on a terrorists list.

But still thirty three innocent lives had come to an unexpected end.

He couldn't help but feel responsible for their deaths.

His handler, who had been screaming his head off in the earpiece, had yet to contact him. That didn't surprise him. The agency and Castle both knew that contact between the two was now terminated. He was safe for now. But after all this, waking up to a new day would be a miracle. His eyes darted to the stairs. He was on the run but he was not alone. If he were on his own, he might have stood a chance. But now?

Now he had taken Kate under his wing. She was twenty-nine, presumably. And like him, she didn't trust anyone and was running away from something.

A long yawn escaped from his mouth. He was tired both physically and mentally. There was nothing else left to do. Only one thing made any sense as of this moment. Sleep. He went up the stairs to the bedroom right across from hers. Locking the door he lay on the bed, placed the glock on his chest, and closed his sleep deprived eyes.

Sleep was important. But he had a lingering feeling that sleep would be last thing on his mind the next few days. Or months.

* * *

Tied-together sheets whipped through the night as it slid down the side of the house. Kate took one end and tied a strong knot across the footboard of the wooden bed. She pulled on it making sure that it was secure enough to carry her weight. She poked her head out the window and scanned the surrounding for any sign of life. Satisfied that she was alone apart from a few critters she slipped through the window, grabbed the sheets tightly, clambered down with ease, gently touched the ground with her feet and ran off into the darkness.

She didn't know where exactly she was, but she had been pretending to be asleep the entire drive here and knew the route the car had taken. She ran into the night like a panther towards the main road where she would follow the track to a gas station and call a cab service to pick her up. The emergency stash of cash was secure in her back pocket and a credit card as well. She was on the run and she was prepared for it.

Since she was kid, darkness had always somehow surrounded her. She was used to it and it didn't frighten her at all. She thought that sometimes a city in broad daylight was far scarier than this forest which was filled in darkness. She ran fast trying her best to not make too much noise. Castle was good but she knew that there was someone always better and could have followed them here. It wasn't the best plan in the world but under these circumstances she couldn't think of anything better.

Her thoughts went back to her parents. They were dead. She wanted to stop and curl up on the ground crying. She wanted to cry forever if that was possible. It was too much. She had seen her father die right in front of her eyes. She would never feel the safety of her mother's arms around her. She would never again hear the laugh of her father. She would never see her mother's eyes again. She was alone in this god forsaken world. The killer had chased her to the bus. But he was no more thanks to the bus explosion.

But thirty innocent people had died along with him. She felt terrible, not for the killer, but for those people whose lives had come to a horrible end. She felt guilty.

She felt utterly worthless.

But now was not the time to curl up and cry. She had to keep moving. She knew that her parents would have wanted her to fight.

If she was going survive this, it would be for them. She had to find out why her parents had been killed so mercilessly. She knew the killer was dead but she had to know the entire truth.

The main road was now a mere twenty yards away. She increased her pace.

Then out of the blue.

She had no time to react.

She heard a familiar voice.

"You do realize that I was going to make you breakfast?"

She gasped and turned around to see Castle sitting on the ground with his back on a tree. He slowly got up. "Did I say something wrong or did i do something?" he asked.

Her eyes turned to the house then back at him. He looked at ease with his hands resting inside his pockets.

"I had a change of heart," she replied.

"Where are you going then?"

"That's none of your business."

"You sure about this?"

She just nodded.

"Need any money?" he asked.

"No."

"Want some more pepper spray?"

"You have some?"

He rummaged through his jacket pocket, pulled out a canister and tossed it to her.

She caught it with one hand and examined it.

It was way different than any other can she had ever seen in her life.

"It's military grade. You won't find it in any stores because it carries twice the potent than a regular one. You spray a man with that. He's going to be on his back for at least thirty minutes," said Castle.

"Thanks I guess," she said putting the can inside her backpack.

Why was he doing this for her? Why was he so goddamn nice to her? She didn't understand it one bit. In her entire life only a handful of people had really cared for and this man, who she had never met once before in her life, was turning out to be only person who cared about her well being.

He cleared his throat pointing to his left. "You should go through there. It would cut your time in half and it would lead straight to the nearest gas station. They have a pay phone there."

With that he turned around and started on his way back to the house.

"No 'goodbyes' or anything? you are just going to let me leave?"

He turned around. "Like you said from the very beginning, it's none of my business. You are a strong woman and could probably survive on your own without my intrusion. And frankly Kate I've got enough problems of my own. Good luck with yours."

He started walking again.

Kate did not move.

"You said you were going to make breakfast for me. What are you making?"

He didn't turn around to look at her. "Coffee, eggs, bacon and some toast. I might make some tea too."

"Are the eggs going to be scrambled?" she asked

"I can make them that way."

"I don't have to leave right now. Can I leave in the morning?"

"Of course."

"That plan wouldn't change and I fully intend on leaving tomorrow."

"That's fine with me."

"Don't take it personally alright? It's just that…."

"I understand." He said.

_Damn this man. _

Both of them started on their way back to the house with Castle a little over three feet in front of her.

"I am pretty sire that I didn't make a sound leaving the house. How did you figure that I had run away?"

"I know every trick in the book and also….i do this for a living."

"Do what exactly?"

"Survive."

_That makes the two of us_, thought Kate.

* * *

His eyes snapped open. He looked at his right and saw that nearly four hours had passed. Rubbing his eyes he placed the glock on the table. He quickly showered, dressed in a different outfit from the day before, and went down stairs. On his way to the stairs he heard gentle snores coming from the woman's door. He wanted to knock but decided against it. She needed sleep more than him.

He went downstairs straight into the kitchen. He wanted to open the windows to let in some fresh air but that would trigger the alarms. He didn't want to turn the alarm off and would do so only when he left this house for good. Apart from the house alarm he had taken the time to set up alarms fifty yards in each direction around the house. One of them had been triggered by Kate's escape. He knew the woods better than her and easily intercepted her in the end.

His thoughts were clouded with the woman's decision to stay the night. He was really happy that she had decided to come back but his rational part was telling him to get rid of the extra weight.

But he wouldn't do that. He couldn't just leave her. He didn't know why but the he just couldn't.

He thought whether it was the guilt finally catching up to him. Were the deaths of the mother and son who had died right in front of him triggered this guilt? Was he making amends by saving this woman from whoever was after her?

A while later he heard a door open and feet walking across the hallway. Later he heard a flush and the sink started to run. He waited for a while and assumed that she was doing a "sink bath" to clean herself up.

Thirty minutes later she came downstairs and was greeted by the breakfast Castle had prepared for her.

"Do you prefer coffee or tea?" he asked

"Coffee, black," she answered.

He handed her a steaming mug of coffee which she gratefully took in her hands. She inhaled the smell and took a slow sip out of the mug.

For some odd reason Castle became fascinated by this woman just sipping her coffee. She met his eyes giving him a questioning look which made him turn around immediately.

_What's wrong me? Control yourself man. _

"How do you like your eggs?" he asked without looking at her.

"What choices do I have apart from scrambled?"

"Overhard and hard boiled," he replied.

"People still eat overhard?"

"Nearly half the military does including me."

"I'll have scrambled for now."

He cracked open a few eggs and turned on the small TV which was sitting on top of the fridge. He flipped through the channels until he found the news channel. He said, "Check it out."

She pulled her hair back over her ear and looked up at the TV while slowly sipping the coffee. Castle noticed that she had a change of clothes. She looked more radiant and younger than she had last night.

For the first time he thought since he had seen her, she didn't have a pepper spray can in one of her hands. Both her hands were cupped tightly around the coffee mug. He noticed some red on her face and assumed that she had scrubbed her face rigorously cleaning up but he couldn't help but notice the swollen eyes. She had been crying.

"You have any cigarettes on you?" she asked.

"I don't and you shouldn't," he answered.

"What are you, my dad? And honestly why shouldn't I? People die every day crossing the street." She retorted angrily.

"I understand but I don't have any on me right now."

"You smoke?"

"Used to. Why do you ask?"

"You seem like the type."

"What 'type' am i exactly?"

"The guy who does everything on his own. The sole independent type, like me."

He didn't reply. She was spot on with her deduction.

The volume on the TV was on the lowest setting but the images on the screen they were seeing told the whole story. The firefighters were still spraying tons of water on the still smoking bus which was now burned to a crust of metal. Flammable objects like seats, tires, bodies were now all but gone.

Both of them didn't say anything but just stared at the screen. Either one of them could have been on the bus. They were damn lucky.

The bus was on a full tank for its trip to New York. It had burned like a firestorm. But he was there and it had felt more like a hellhole. He thought about the people who had lost their lives. Some died instantly while the majority burned alive.

Their crematorium.

"Can you turn up the volume?" Kate asked.

He grabbed the remote and increased the volume slightly.

The newscaster, a stoic, grim looking woman stared into the camera and said, "The bus was on its way to New York. This devastating explosion took place around two thirty last night. From what we have learned there are no survivors. The FBI has taken over the scene and is not ruling out a terrorist attack. They refuse to comment on why the terrorists, if involved, targeted the bus."

"Castle."

"Yes?"

"Do you…how do you think it happened?" she asked

"Let's eat first and then we'll talk."

They spent the next twenty minutes eating breakfast silently apart from the TV which was now showing the homeless man Castle had seen dancing around the burning bus.

"This is pretty good," Kate proclaimed. She pushed her plate filled with specks of eggs, refilled her coffee mug, and sat at the counter top. She looked at his plate while he ate and then up to him.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" she asked pointing to the TV screen.

Castle sat back putting his knife and fork on the plate in a crisscrossed position.

"My guess is that the man who was after you might have set it off."

"A suicide bomber?" she asked.

"By the looks of it maybe but unlike what you said about me, he didn't look the type."

"I didn't see a bomb strapped on him and I don't think you did either."

"I didn't. At least I don't think it was strapped to his chest. When you left I tied him down around the chest and I didn't feel any dynamite sticks on him. But the thing is i tied him so he couldn't have set if off."

"So it wasn't him then I suppose."

"It's not impossible though. You just need some C4 or a little explosive material and the bus tank would take care of the rest. The bomb could have been set off remotely as well."

"You could do that?"

"You could and I think that is what happened because the man was tied up. Back in Iraq half the suicide bombers don't pull the trigger themselves. It is set off with a remote. The suicide bomber is just disposable human meat and their handler's pull the trigger from a distance."

"They have got the easy bit then, the handlers."

Castle thought about his own handler.

"Couldn't agree more with that."

"If your theory is correct, the man isn't responsible for the explosion."

"He still could be but the chances of something else hitting the bus are more likely."

"Explain."

"Well, you could always fire a shot from a distance into the gas tank. The bullet, filled with explosive material, comes in contact with the gas and then boom. The flammable materials do the rest of the job."

"I didn't hear a shot though, did you?"

"Now that you say it I don't think a shooter would have taken a shot from a distance. That would have given up his position so the shooter would have to do it from a closer position.

"Why blow up the bus then?"

"How do you think the guy found you on the bus?"

"He came last and was in a hurry," she said in an analytical tone.

He liked her in this _analytically_ sort of way. He was this way himself most of the time. "I think the man could have gotten the job at the last minute. Either that or he wanted to catch up. The thing that makes more sense is that they lost you and then found you again." He paused. "But I think you know best about that."

"I honestly have no idea."

"Start with a guess and then go on from there. Build a theory," he implored.

"The man in the alley with the MP4. What about him?"

"He was after me."

"I knew that. They had a tracker on you. But the question is Castle, why was he after you?"

"That's my business and I would like to keep it that way."

"Same here," she said with a hint of frustration. "So what do we do now?"

"I can give you a ride to the gas station. From there you can call a cab or get on a train to New York."

"They would find me in a second. Train tickets have names written on them."

"It would only show your first name."

"You wouldn't think that would be obvious? Imagine yours just saying 'Castle'."

"So a trip by the train is out of the picture."

Castle looked down on his plate but she didn't take her eyes off him.

"Your parents, do you know where they are?" Castle asked.

"Didn't say I have any."

"I think that's a requirement."

"I meant living," she said now looking down on the floor.

Castle didn't say anything as she looked at the coffee inside her mug with great determination but he could still see sadness clouding her eyes.

"I don't think this is going to work Castle," she said looking up at him.

"Do you want to contact the police?"

"Would that workout for you?"

"No. Not really."

"If you tell me what's really inside that big head of yours, I can help you."

"You've already done enough and I honestly appreciate that. But frankly I don't think you can do anything more for me."

"Why were you making the trip to New York anyways?"

"I had to get away from here. But you didn't tell me why you were on the bus either."

"I had various options so I chose the best one."

"Not me."

"You had to make the trip. Why was that?"

"Like you said, 'it's my business'," she said.

"You work for the government?"

Just then a reporter came on the TV screen claiming that two bodies had been found in a condo apartment. The images showed two gurneys being pulled out the front entrance, one of them big and other one small in size.

The Metro Police of D.C. spokesperson came on the screen being interviewed by the reporter.

The spokesperson said, "It's quite a tragedy. A mother and her son were shot dead inside the apartment. They have been identified but their names will not be told until further notice. The task force has found some leads and we are trying our best to track down this monster. We ask anyone who saw anything to come forward and tell us anything that would help us find whoever this person is and bring him or her to justice."

"Mr. Davis is it true that the FBI has taken over the investigation?" asked the reporter.

"The mother it seems was working for the government and the bureau is responding accordingly to the situation."

The general public would believe anything they were told on TV, thought Castle. He stared at the screen for more information. It seemed like months had passed since he had left that apartment building and now it was surrounded by police and feds.

"There were reports that there was another child?" asked the reporter.

"Yes and fortunately he was unharmed."

"Where was the child during the attack Mr. Davis?"

"That's all for now. Thank you."

Castle looked down at the table and looked up to see Kate staring at him with anger in her eyes.

She looked dangerous and her gaze pierced through any defense he was holding up against it.

"That was you."

He stayed silent.

"I should've known. You looked the type from the beginning. But a mother and a child?"

"Do you want anything else to eat?"

She glared at him angrily. "You're worse than scum. I want to leave right now you understand?"

Her hands were now gripping the coffee mug so tightly that he thought it might break.

"I can give you a ride."

She scoffed. "I'd rather walk."

She ran up the stairs and within a few seconds came back down with her backpack.

Castle turned off the alarm and walked towards the door. He opened the door and said, "You should know that I didn't kill those people."

"And why the fuck should I believe you?" she said simply. "But I have to say thank you for not ending my life. Did me a huge fucking favor."

She slammed the door shut and walked down the gravel drive.

Castle rubbed his face and grabbed his jacket.

* * *

Castle ran towards the shed with a helmet in one hand, slid the cover off his Yamaha bike, and drove it out of the shed. He stopped in front of the house, locked the house, and then drove off into the forest in his 650cc matte black motorcycle.

He gunned the bike as it sprang into life. He reached the main road in time to see Kate get into an ancient looking Saturn with an elderly woman on the driver's seat.

Few seconds later the car took off with Castle a mere fifty yards behind. The car stopped and turned right into the gas station, which Castle guessed it would. He had told her about it. He raced past the gas station and into a side road which hid his bike from the gas station. He shut off the engine and walked towards the hedges which gave a clear view of the gas station. Kate got out of the car and made her way to the payphone. She punched in three keys.

She wouldn't call the police so it must be 411, thought Castle.

A while later she hanged up and picked up the receiver dialing another number.

Cab company.

She talked for a few minutes, hung up, and then went inside the gas station.

She came out of the station and sat down at the bench right next to the station. She was waiting for the cab as did Castle.

Out of the blue his phone started to buzz. He looked at the screen which made his hands sweat a little.

He looked at the caller ID and saw a word which every agent in the agency feared. It was the word 'Panic'. Never in his career with the agency had he received this call. He didn't have a choice but to answer. However he was on the run so he really didn't have to be cooperative.

He pressed the answer key and said, "Tracing this phone is useless and I think you know that."

"We need to meet up," the man on the phone said.

The voice on the phone was not his handler's. Somehow Castle knew it wouldn't be. 'Panic' calls were often from the higher ups in the agency.

"I think you know that I had a meeting last night and I don't think I'll survive this one."

"You are not at fault here. No repercussions have been placed on you."

Castle didn't reply. The silence was his reply to the absurd statement he had just heard.

"Your handler is the one who will face the repercussions."

"Nice of you to tell me that. The assignment was still a failure."

"The intel was false and we think it might have been tampered with."

Castle stayed silent. He was starting to see where this was heading and he didn't want to go there.

"The intel was tampered with," said the man again. "The incident in that apartment was unfortunate."

"Unfortunate? That woman was a mother and an American citizen."

This time the man stayed silent.

"I was told in the briefing USB that the woman had ties to a terrorist cell in the Middle East," said Castle

"Whatever you were told is extraneous Mr. Castle. You just execute the orders we give you."

"Even if the assignment is bullshit to begin with?"

"If the assignment is wrong, that's none of your concern. It's mine."

"Who are you?"

"Castle I think you know this is a panic call. This is way above your handlers pay grade. I don't want to talk further until we meet face to face."

Castle noticed Kate get up from her seat and go inside the restroom.

"Why was she a target?"

"Listen to me carefully Castle. The decision the agency has made on you, would you like to change that?"

"Have you lot even cared for what I want?"

"Yes we do. You're the best agent we have in the agency and trust me when I say this. You're too good to be put away."

"That's sounds wonderful. Where's my handler?"

"Transferred."

"You mean he's dead."

"We don't play that way with our people Castle."

"Honestly, I don't know anything."

"Something's you know and some you don't."

"Keep saying that and you might start believing in it yourself."

"We need you on this Castle. We are trying to minimize the damage as much as possible."

"Work with you guys again? I wonder how that will work out for me."

"I think you need to move past that for your own good. Actually it's quite vital that you do."

"So start talking then. Did you guys send a cleaner after me? The man in the alley who has my boots imprinted on his face? The man might still be there lying unconscious."

"Not our man. I can assure you that much. Send me the coordinates to that location and we'll see what we can do."

Castle didn't believe this man one bit. Even though he had just told this man the truth about knocking the guy out in the alley.

"So what do you want from me? More missions I suppose. But frankly I am not really in the mood for them. For all you know you could have me taking out a Scout leader next."

"As you know there is an ongoing investigation concerning the death of the mother."

"I saw."

"And I think you also know that the FBI is heading that investigation."

"I guess they are."

"Castle I want you as the agencies liaison to the FBI."

Woah, he had seen some things coming out of the blue but this? He didn't see it coming from a mile away.

"You're joking right?"

No reply.

"You really want me to go near this?"

"We need you there and it's essential that you do what we tell you to do."

"Why does the agency want a liaison to this case?"

"Because the mother, Elena Davenport, was working for us."

* * *

The place and time where the Castle would meet the man on the phone were discussed. He turned his attention back to Kate who was standing on the sidewalk as a yellow cab rolled in and stopped right in front of her. Castle noticed that she had a pack of cigarettes in one hand and a beer can in the other.

_Drown in your sorrows. _

She climbed in and the cab drove off immediately

Castle got back on his bike and like before stayed fifty yards behind the vehicle.

Castle wasn't giving up on her. He couldn't. What she didn't know was that Castle had slipped a micro GPS chip in the eggs. The chip would last forty eight hours before it dissolved itself in the stomach acid. It wouldn't do any harm to her apart from a stomach ache and a trip to the bathroom. Castle looked at his phone, which was now attached to his wrist, telling her exact position. He fell back a few more feet. It was a risk he was willing to take as she possessed skills that Castle had not expected from her. She was young, some would say a hopeless woman, but Castle knew she was not to be underestimated.

Castle looked at the GPS which indicated that he was now on interstate 66 heading east towards the Capital.

Traffic had picked up considerably. It was abysmal as cars headed towards D.C. from the west. It was a daily routine for these lot, head east with the sun blazing in your eyes then head west with the sun still blazing in your eyes.

Castle being on his Yamaha allowed him to be more agile than a car therefore giving him a clear view of the cab. The cab navigated its way past the Roosevelt Bridge, turned right at the end, passed the famous monuments of D.C., then carried on into the less famous and beautiful parts of the capital.

Eventually the cab came to a stop near an old duplex. She got out, and told the cabby to wait for her. She walked across the street with the cab following slowly behind her. She kept on walking till she reached an old duplex apartment, took out an old camera, and took a few pictures of the duplex from different angles. Satisfied with the amount of pictures she had taken, she put her camera away, and climbed in the cab which drove off instantly.

Castle looked at the old duplex, studied the structure and its surroundings, memorized the address, and started once again on his trail.

A few minutes later Castle realized where the cab was heading. He couldn't believe it at first but he understood why she was heading that direction.

They were heading towards the bus explosion site.

The cab came to a stop a few blocks away from the explosion site due to the barricades put up by the police. Cops and feds were everywhere scavenging the area for anything that might give them a clue to what had happened. Most of them were rookie cops who had the look of surprise and shock plastered on their faces. The explosion had taken everyone by surprise. Castle thought the political blame game would have already begun by now.

He parked his bike a mere twenty yards away from the cab, slipped off his helmet, ruffled his hair, and took off in pursuit of the woman. She was already a block ahead of him and he noticed that she didn't even look back once. That made him curious and concerned at the same time. She kept on walking with Castle right behind her. Wherever she turned, he would do the same. They kept at it until they were on the same street where the bus had gone ablaze. The block was barricaded to keep away the pedestrians and the media who were stalking the feds for more information. There might still be evidence that could help them and they didn't want people traipsing over it. There was nothing much left of the bus which was now surrounded by huge metal rod curtains to avoid showing the public the devastation the explosion had caused.

Looking at the feds Castle thought about the gun he had lost during the explosion. He had no idea where it was. That thought deeply troubled him. He looked up towards the corner of the buildings. He wondered if there were hidden surveillance cameras in the area. He looked for ATM machines, which had cameras built in. He noticed a bank across the street. The location of the bus where they had taken their leave was at an angle which the cameras in the bank did not cover. As of this moment they were both dead to the world. They were safe. For now.

* * *

Kate entered a hotel that was squished between two old buildings.

Castle slowly walked around the corner and watched her through the hotel window. She used her credit card to pay for the room making hi wonder whose name was on it. If it were hers, any federal agency would now know where she is and had been before.

She smiled at the old lady at the front desk and made her way towards the elevator. Castle crossed the street and walked in the hotel. He wasn't giving up her.

He went up to the front desk and said, "A while ago I think my wife just checked in. She's on a business trip here and I wanted to surprise her. I think she used the credit card I had given her and I think it might be corrupt. Her cell phone is going to voicemail and I think she might have turned it off."

He just killed it as a hopelessly in love husband.

The old lady looked at him curiously. "Why not go ask her yourself young man?"

"May I know what room she is in then?"

"Hotel policy. Can't give out that information."

Castle had look of annoyance plastered on his face but he tried to contain it as much as possible. "Could please just help me out here? I am going through a rough patch right now and the last thing I need is some tech kid going through my personal information."

The old lady looked down at the registry book then back up to him. "It may take a while young man and the toll it may take on my body would be too much for me to handle."

Castle knew where this was heading. He opened his wallet and laid a twenty dollar bill on the counter. "A little something to ease the pain."

"Double that and it would be a golly good day for both of us."

I bet.

Castle pulled out a fifty dollar bill which she snapped almost instantly from his fingers.

"Credit card the young lady used was a Mastercard. The name on it is Matt Foster."

"I am Matt Foster and I've two Mastercard's. May I see the numbers?"

"Golly good days are always the best."

Castle complied clearly frustrated with this old lady who was a good hustler he had to admit. She gave him the register book and Castle memorized the number on the card.

"That's the corrupted one," said Castle.

"Already in the system. Can't do nothing," said the old lady.

"Well have a golly good day then and thanks for nothing."

"I could tell you her room number you know."

"Don't want it."

"Why?"

"We're getting divorced."

He exited the premises with old lady rambling about how young people perceived marriage today. He would find out who this Matt Foster character is. For now he had to assume that Kate was safe. He had a plan for her.

He rode back to his apartment and made sure that there were no suspicious looking individual's at the back or front of the building. Castle took the safe route by taking the stairwell instead of the elevator. The stairwell was empty. He looked at his wrist watch which told him that nearly everyone in the building was at work. He reached his door and carefully checked the traps he had set for intruders. The place was the same as he had left it.

It took a few minutes for him to check whether his apartment was completely empty. The traps were still in place. None of them had been tripped.

He looked at a mirror and decided for a wardrobe change. He put on slacks, a navy blue shirt, put on a sports coat, and opened the wall safe behind a painting which stored his cred pack. He hadn't used it for a while. Castle put the pack in his coat pocket and set off.

Castle was now heading towards the meeting point that he had insisted upon on the phone.

The meeting would take place in The Parkinson Hotel which was right across Lafayette Park. It was near the White House so it was quite possibly the most protected and secure place on the planet. The agency wouldn't lay a finger on him at this location which was crowded with people throughout the day.

The Private Lobby Room Number 211, a spacious room with large windows overlooking the Lafayette Park, was the actual place where the meeting would take place. Castle had arrived two hours before to see who he was up against.

Once a soldier always a soldier.

Two hours passed and a man in his fifties walked in the room with a stoic expression on his face. The man had on an expensive three piece suit, a velvet tie, and polished Armani shoes. This man was the perfect example of a man who didn't possess military skills but possessed intelligence and power in the agency. No matter how good you were in terms of combat skills and what your credentials were in the field, money, influence, and some intelligence trumped all. Behind him were two tough looking men who Castle assumed were his bodyguards.

The two men followed the man inside the room but did not sit at the table. They stood either side of the man sweeping the area for any threats. They took places in an angle where a shot from outside would hit them rather than the man who was clearly more interested in how his hair looked at this very moment.

One of the bodyguards took out device which looked like a radio and attached it to one of the windows. He turned on the device which started emitting a humming noise.

Castle knew it was a scrambler because he had used it plenty of times in the past. If anyone was listening in from the outside, they would be greeted with the sound of white noise.

Castle stepped out of the corner of the room and raised both his hands in the air to show the bodyguards that he wasn't carrying a weapon. Both bodyguards looked at their employer who nodded in return and lowered their weapons.

The room was empty and Castle knew this was the man's doing as this room was usually filled with white collar workers this time of day. There was no staff in sight and the bar lacked the presence of a bartender.

Castle sat in one of the seats facing the man head on.

"I am happy you could salvage some time for us, Mr. Castle," said the man.

"Name?"

"Smith."

"May I see your creds?"

The man raised his right hand and the bodyguard behind handed him an ID. He gave to Castle who saw a picture, his position in the agency, badge number but the name Smith was nowhere to be seen.

This man was definitely one of the higher ups. Even more higher than Castle had expected.

"Elena Davenport, you said she was one of ours? I checked her entire history and the only thing government related is her affiliation with the DCIS."

"So I suppose you saw her passport too?"

"She visited Europe mostly, she made various trips to the Middle East and if I am not wrong the DCIS had offices in all of the countries she had visited."

"A perfect cover."

"She was a lawyer or was that a cover too?"

"She was definitely a lawyer but she was much more than that."

"What work did she do for the agency?"

"You haven't been debriefed yet I suppose."

"Why I am here then."

"Like I said, you haven't been debriefed yet. I am going to do it now."

"Go on."

"Castle I need to know what happened last night in complete detail."

Castle complied. He didn't say anything about the bus explosion or Kate. He needed leverage before he could tell this man about Kate. He had an idea brewing and she had a big role to play.

The man sat back in his chair observing Castle as he told him every single detail he could muster from the night before. Castle knew this was deeply upsetting the man had closed his eyes before he had even finished. None of them saw this coming. This ran deep in the agency which even troubled Castle.

Smith placed his elbows on the table and ordered one of the bodyguards to bring him cup of tea.

"She was one of us Castle. Had been in the field for nearly a decade. But the two pregnancies changed her priorities and she was reassigned here in D.C. back in 06'. She was placed in a law firm as a cover. She graduated in the top ten percent at the Langley base and her minor in Law was enough for her to do Pro Bono cases for the firm. She worked with us on a regular basis and never turned her back on us."

"Why was she on the hit list then?" asked Castle. "How is that even possible in the first place? I understand we are an independent agency but we still have protocol and are under the checks and balances system."

"Castle almost all organizations on Wall Street are independent, have a perfect system, and still shit happens to them. The fact is that if someone is willing to do something even if it cost them their lives, it would happen eventually. At least if someone doesn't stop them first."

"Last night I saw her get in. I didn't see any kids with her."

"She has a sitter who lives in the building. The kid's stay at the sitter's place till Agent Davenport returns home."

"What on earth did Davenport stumble upon that go her killed?"

He didn't reply immediately. Castle knew this man didn't know either. The man said, "We shouldn't make any assumptions just yet. We don't know if she even stumbled upon something."

"Think about it for second. She had a decent job with a salary that could have gotten her an apartment twice as better than the one she lived in. In the apartment I noticed documents laying carelessly over the floor and tables. If they were classified, they wouldn't be just lying there. According to the passport her last trip outside the country was nearly two years ago. She probably quit her field work after her second pregnancy. Agency policy, no more than one kid, you know that already. I think she started on something that seemed normal to her. She found something. Hence her name on the hit list. However I highly doubt that it had anything to do with the job at the firm."

"You live up to your name Mr. Castle."

"I am flattered. However I am a man who is full of questions that need to be answered. Do you think she was onto something?"

"I can assure you that it had nothing to do with her job at the firm. The part where she was onto something? We don't know."

"I wonder if you guys even know anything apart from the bullshit the NSA and CIA feed you. First you give me an assignment where a mother of two is a target and now you want me to work on a case that I was involved in personally. What do you think will happen If they find out about the real me?"

"They won't. I can assure you that much."

"It's like you said before. If someone is determined enough to make something happen, it will happen."

"You have a theory Castle?"

Castle sighed. This meeting was starting to frustrate him now.

"My theory is that the woman came across something that rattled the cages at the top. Someone sold her out. Personally I believe that any organization is penetrable and we have a mole in the agency. The proof being the way my handler acted during the assignment and the others involved in the shooting. They trusted me enough to let me take the assignment but they had the little doubt in their heads that I wouldn't be able to do it when the time came. They had a backup in place. When I asked where my handler was. You said he was transferred. That my friend is a lie."

"That is a bold statement Castle."

"My handler has given me assignments since my first day at the agency. He was the one who told me to kill Davenport. The handler is a traitor and if I knew any better, traitors in this country do not live to see another day. If you had him, you would be telling me why had he turned against the country rather than telling me he was transferred. You have no idea where my handler is, do you? My guess is that everyone involved in this case has disappeared. The question is how many have?"

The man sighed heavily. "We have four people in our sights and ready to be brought in. But we think there might be more."

Castle just stared at the man.

The man looked down and fiddled with the spoon on the table. "It doesn't look good. For any of us."

"Understatement of the decade. Where do you need me?"

"We need eyes and ears everywhere in that investigation. However we have to keep it low. You would be acting as an agent from DCIS. You would report directly to me and only me. Don't worry about the cover we have your back and you would be provided with necessary creds as well. They should be in your apartment by now."

Castle's face was now laced with anger but he didn't show it. "We have, if your intel is correct, four traitors in the agency. And you also said that there might be more. What if they are in my apartment right now?"

"They are from a division who have no idea that we even exist. Your handler has made no contact with them. We made sure of that. They are good and they bring something that many in the country throw out the door with ease. Loyalty."

"There are a lot of things you could throw out the door."

"Loyalty, love, and trust would be the hardest ones to throw out."

Castle didn't say anything in return. This man was not heartless after all.

"Learn to trust Castle. And i think at some point you will."

"I doubt it. The agency is fine with me joining this man hunt?"

"Almost everyone of importance is on board. Would like me to call the Director of CIA?"

"Honestly, I don't really give a shit what they tell me right now. But I have to ask one more question, why me?"

"You don't see it do you?"

He didn't get a reply from Castle.

"You didn't pull the trigger. I think you might be the first one who hasn't in the agencies history. We trust you Castle."

Castle mind processed this conversation and thought of the different reasons they might have wanted to involve him.

He was there. If this hit the fan again. He would take the heat.

"Okay, I'll do it. But I have a request that you won't like one bit."

"What might that be?"

Castle took out a picture of Kate he had taken and placed it in front of the man. The man looked at the picture with intrigue then looked back up to Castle.

"Who is this woman?"

"None of your business."

"It is now."

"You want me to be your liaison or not?"

"Castle lives are at stake here."

"Then we shouldn't waste more time then."

The man looked at him with anger filling his eyes. "What do you want?"

"She's not in the database so don't bother. I want you to make her a new identity, a clean slate, no relatives, and give her a cred pack as well."

"Impossible. The identity part is possible but she is going nowhere near this investigation."

"She might be connected to this."

"How?"

Castle didn't reply back.

"I don't know but if you want me to head this investigation, do as I say."

"Even If I do this, wouldn't this put her life in danger and even worse the secrecy of the agency?"

"I….we need her on this."

"First of all we don't even know who she is. She could be a spy. She doesn't have any training and you want me to make a cred pack for her?"

"She's better than half the stooges you train these days."

"This is just not possible. There is too much at stake."

Castle gave the man a menacing look which made him flinch. He slammed his fists on the table. The bodyguards stood ready to fire if necessary.

"Listen to me and listen well. A mother and her child are dead. For all we know they might have been innocent. And by the looks of it I am your last remaining hope for the agency and trust me I can walk away right now and you guys will never find me. You don't do this for me, I am out."

The man looked down at the picture and didn't say anything. Castle reasoning had been on point and void of any bullshit. He would have liked or actually preferred to work alone but the woman was involved somehow. He didn't how but he had a sinking feeling that she was right smack in the middle of this just like he was.

If he was going down, he was going to make sure she didn't.

He needed her on this. For the first time in his life, Castle needed a partner.

The man got up and put out his hand. "You've a deal. Good luck on the assignment."

Castle didn't shake his hand. "There is no such thing as luck. You make your own." He headed towards the door and exited the hotel; back into the world which was now filled with chaos ready to explode and never in his life had it felt so daunting.

Never had he felt so alone.

He needed someone and he knew exactly where that certain someone was.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I am truly sorry for this late update. I have been REALLY busy editing pictures for my article and i try my best to dedicate some time to this story. I hope you're enjoying it so far and i am, well kinda, sorry that i had to slit these two up. Not for long though i can assure that and Sophia is going to make a comeback soon. As always, i appreciate reviews from you guys and i want to thank everyone who has so far. You guys are awesome :)

p.s. Another thing you might want to blame for the late update is the band Coldplay. I got to see them live in concert! ASDFGJKL! it was amazing and...i just can't express in words on how awesometacular that concert was :)

It was bliss.

Peace

**AfroSamurai98. **


	11. Special Agent Nikki Heat

**Disclaimer**: Where art thou September?

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Castle arrived in his apartment minutes before sundown and everything the man had promised was waiting for him on the kitchen counter. This made him somewhat uneasy.

The air in his apartment was different. Something wasn't right.

He checked all the traps he had set before leaving for the meeting. None of them had been triggered.

Maybe it was just him.

He looked over the cred pack the man had made for him and Kate. She had a new identity, a new background, no living parents or relatives, associated with the FBI as a special investigative agent. It looked believable until he saw the name the agency had given her.

_Nikki Heat_.

He nearly choked on the drink as he almost burst out laughing. Of all the names the agency could have come up with, this was the name they had picked for her and frankly he didn't know whether to be disappointed or congratulate them on their sense of humor. She's going to love this, Castle thought. He knew it would be tricky convincing her to join him but he had a plan which completely depended on his manipulation skills. It was going to be hard but not impossible.

He put the cred pack aside and pulled up a file on his phone regarding the case. He needed to come up to speed if he had any chance of finding the people responsible. But he knew rushing anything would eventually lead to mistakes.

There will be mistakes. There always were but he owed it to the mother and her child and the thirty people who had lost their lives not to mess this one up.

He thought about the possibility of this case going cold. It couldn't. It would be end of the road not only for him but for Kate as well.

This was political and it showed as the amount of drudgery and commitment the government had shown towards the resolution of the case.

If the agency felt the case was going nowhere they would eventually start to lower the support for the case being resolved.

That was just how this town functioned.

He looked at his cred pack with name Richard Castle staring right back at him. He knew it was risk using this name but he knew for sure that no one apart from Kate and Sophia knew his fake name.

_Sophia_.

_Drinks_.

_Shit_.

He remembered that he had asked her out for a few drinks. With all the shit that he had gone through the past two days the night out with Sophia lay forgotten at the back of his mind. He knew that if he skipped it she would think of him as just another guy looking for a one night stand. He wasn't like that obviously but he needed to keep her away for her own good. Even if it costs him a potential relationship with her.

He picked up his gun, the cred packs, and put them in his jacket pocket. Then he heard something move in the living room. He turned around in an instant and pointed his gun towards the source. He looked around the living room and then the whole apartment for any anomalies and yet again found none. His mind was starting to play tricks on him. He put back his gun in the holder while still scanning the apartment.

He exited the apartment and just when he was about to walk towards the elevator he heard a door close behind him at the end of the hallway. It was her.

She was the only one that lived at the far end of the hallway.

Sophia Turner.

She locked the door and turned around facing him. She was currently in a business suit with black heels. To say she looked sexy would be an understatement.

"Why hello, Castle," she said.

"Skipping work I see," said Castle. It was midday and she was usually at work.

"No not skipping. Just forgot something. Lunch is the only chance I get from escaping the 'House'. Why are you looking so fancy?"

"Employer just arranged a meeting with a foreign client. So how did that chill session go?"

"Oh, it went okay I guess."

He had received a briefing on her after he had reported her and thankfully nothing had turned up that would raise any alarms. It didn't surprise him. After all she worked at the White House and one had to be squeaky clean to get in.

He said, "Sorry about leaving you so abruptly that day, I was just really tired."

"No worries. I was tired too." She paused and said in a quite tone, "Maybe we can talk over some drinks sometime."

She moved a little closer to him and was now at an arms distance away from him. He smelled her cologne which reminded him of the ocean and its emptiness. Her eyes were filled with what he thought was lust were now fixed on him and nothing else. She looked hungry, not for food, but for him. She was at a distance where Castle could throw her up against the wall and do things to her which he would regret the next day.

"Maybe," said Castle. He was clearly not thinking straight in his head. He had a case to work on for Christ's sake.

"Okay," she said biting her lip in a quite voice. She looked down at the floor for a few seconds and made the face that many did when they were rejected.

Castle hadn't said no to her but he couldn't just bring her into his life which even he didn't know would lead him the next day. It was dangerous and she needed to be left out of this.

He turned around to walk towards the elevator and then stopped; he was doing the same thing he had done every single time he met someone. Leave them in the dark. He turned to her and said, "You know what? I would love to have drinks with you."

Her face which had gone from a saddened one lit up instantly. "That sounds good."

"We should do it real soon," he said.

"Are you going out of country or something?" she asked.

"No. I've started to go out more and I think you would make for some lovely company."

Her face lit up even more if that was even possible. "I think you would too, Castle. You know where I live."

He nodded in reply and watched her go down the stairs. He stood there for a while replaying the conversation he had just had with his neighbor.

He wondered why he was so taken with her. Was it the physical attraction? Sure. Or was it the fact that he saw himself in her? A lonely person living in an apartment without any real friends and a social life that seized to exist. The great Richard Castle was confused.

She was a beautiful woman who was obviously smart and just maybe, she was smitten with him.

But now was not the time for that. The elevator doors slid open and he stepped in with his mind now occupied with the case that he desperately needed to close.

* * *

Castle was sitting in a local diner typing on his laptop. He was not working on Elena Davenport's case. His mind was on something else.

He typed in the name Matt Foster, the name on the credit card Kate had used to book a room in the hotel, on a search engine. The name was very common in the U.S. so he got too many hits. He typed in a URL which was reserved for special personnel like Castle. It was like the Google search engine but with no privacy at all. He typed in the name again and received hits which looked manageable. He refined his search typing in the credit card he had memorized and the birth date of the individual. The results showed that the credit card was a fake and the birth date had been of no use as well. Castle looked at the street addresses and noticed none of them matched the address of the old complex Kate had stopped by and taken pictures of on her way to the hotel.

Nearly all the men in the search result appeared to be your everyday citizen but one man caught his attention.

A Foster care owner and provider.

The man and his wife took in foster kids.

He didn't know what relation Kate might have with these people but he had a gut feeling that this was the Matt Foster he was looking for.

He saved the address on his phone and checked the tracking device he had placed on, well inside, Kate. It was used by the CIA so it was top notch and had a range of over fifty miles. She was still at the hotel she had checked in earlier in the day. The only reason he could think of her still being in the hotel was to avoid being spotted. Another being that she had no intention of leaving town.

He pondered for a few minutes about what could have changed her mind to stay about in the capital. He wondered whether it had something to do with the house she had stopped by and taken pictures of. Whatever the reason, Castle needed to know. But that would have to wait as he had other things to take care of first.

Matt Foster lived in a three story duplex which was situated in a dark, gloomy neighborhood. Castle walked up to the door and knocked twice. It took a while before he heard noises inside which told him that a quick 'cleanup' was taking place inside. A man finally answered the door and Castle noticed that he had bruises on his left cheek, bloodshot eyes, and a strong smell of air freshener which Castle could have smelled yards away from the house.

The state the man was in told Castle that he had been slapping himself to get out of a drunken haze and his breathe, which smelled of Listerine, was further proof of that. Castle wondered how low the standards of foster care had dropped in the United States. This man should be in prison.

"Can I help you?" said the man in an agitated tone, clearly not in the mood for visiting.

"Matt Foster?"

"Who's asking?"

Castle flashed his badge. "D.C. Internal Affairs."

Foster looked at the badge and stumbled back. He was a tall thin looking man measuring only an inch shorter than Castle. He was however thin in an unhealthy way. Most of his hair was gone with some remaining at the edges; he couldn't be much older than forty. He seemed like the stereotypical druggie one saw in the movies or TV shows with pale skin and constant jerking of the body indicating years of substance abuse.

"Internal Affairs? Shit I thought that was only for cops?"

"We are special," said Castle. "Mostly for guys like you. May I come in?"

"Why?"

"We need to talk about a person by the name Kate." Castle had a gut feeling that she had told him her real first name. Hopefully.

Foster's narrowed his eyes. "If you come across her tell her to come back _home. _Every day she ain't here, I lose money."

Castle noticed the emphasis the man had put into the word home.

"She's missing?"

"Yeah."

"May I come in?"

Foster hesitated for a few seconds, then stepped aside, and let Castle pass.

The conditions outside were abysmal but the inside looked as though a hurricane had passed through the house. The chairs were in tatters, dirty clothes were strewn all over the place. He could see edges of beer cans and various other objects, notably a crack pipe, sticking out from under a chair. He could wonder what else lay underneath the chairs. The seat he was currently sitting on reeked of alcohol and pot.

He heard footsteps and a thin woman wearing skinny jeans and a tight blouse came out of the back wiping her hands on the already dirty jeans. She looked the age of thirty. Brown hair, a face heavily laden with makeup, she looked like a mess. As she came closer Castle felt an aura of someone who was detached from the reality she failed to acknowledge. She took out a cigarette from her jeans pocket and lit it up eyeing Castle carefully.

"Who the fuck is he?"

"Internal Affairs," Foster replied loudly.

Castle took out his badge and flashed it. "I am here to talk about Kate. And if I am not wrong this is a foster home. Smoking is harmful for a child's health."

The woman crushed the cigarette under her feet. "Sorry," she said in a tone which told Castle that she wasn't in the least.

"She ran away a couple days ago. The runt never appreciated the things we gave her."

"You are?"

"Meredith. Matt and I are married."

"How many children currently stay here?"

"Two others not counting that bitch runaway," said Meredith.

"I recommend you not calling the person who is under our responsibility as a bitch," said Castle trying to calm himself down and his best not to lash out at this woman.

Meredith glimpsed at his husband. "He with the foster care people?"

"He said Internal Affairs," said Foster.

"I am with the United States Government," said Castle. "For now that's all you need to know. You said there were two other kids. Where are they?"

She changed her whole outlook and implemented an overly loving motherly tone. "Oh, those two gum drops are in school," she said with a creepy smile on her face. "Just like we're supposed to."

Castle heard a loud noise from upstairs. "You two have any kids?" he asked, looking at the stairwell.

Foster and Meredith exchanged worried looks. "Yeah….uh, we've got two of em' and they are reading up there righ' now. They real advanced for their ages unlike them other kids these days."

"Okay. Now about Kate." He opened a little notepad he took out from his jacket pocket. Foster's eyes shot wide open as he saw the gun Castle had strapped across his chest. "You've got a gun?"

"I do," said Castle.

"I have never seen a foster care person carry a gun before," said Meredith.

"Honestly, you guys better cooperate with me right now unless you want to get into serious trouble."

Castle had decided it was time to stop playing nice with these two idiots. He didn't have the time and patience.

Foster sat up straighter and Meredith right next to him.

Castle said, "Now tell me everything there is to know about Kate."

"Is she any trouble?" asked Foster.

"Again. Tell me about her," Castle repeated firmly. " Everything from background to how she came to live here."

"I thought you already knew that?" asked Meredith.

Castle looked at her with an angry look on his face. "I am here to confirm the information we received from the foster agency, Mrs. Foster. And may I remind you of the cooperation I have asked from you or are you in favor of going to prison tonight?"

Foster glared at his wife and snapped, "Shut up woman and let me handle this." He looked at Castle and said, "Her full name is Katherine Beckett. She came to us nearly sixteen years ago."

"Age?"

"Twenty-nine."

"She is adult. Why is she staying here?"

"Her parents placed her in our care and she couldn't get into college unfortunately."

"I am aware of the fact that her parents couldn't take care of her but why couldn't they? Were they dead?"

"No , I don't think so. I think you know that the agency doesn't really talk much about the parents. We are just caretakers. They give us kids and we take care of em'."

Meredith nodded and added, "They are like our own."

"Of course. Expect for that bitch Kate," said Castle.

Meredith looked down in response. "Well, not everyone deserves to be treated special. We have to even them out."

Foster added quickly, "What she means is that Kate can be a handful. She's quite a speaker. She speaks far too much to be honest."

"You said that she's not here anymore?"

"Ran off around midnight I think."

Meredith grabbed her husband's arm tightly, "Oh! We have been worried about that poor girl."

_God does this woman not know when to stop?_

"I suppose you have reported her missing by now."

Both of them looked at each other again. Foster said, "Actually we were hoping she might come into her senses and come back."

"We didn't want to worry her parents so we wanted to wait for a while before reporting her," added Meredith.

"Has there been any occasions before where she has run off?"

"Well if you count returning to her parents as running off, then yes. But apart from last night she hasn't."

"Wait, you said returning to her parents. She was placed with you again?"

"Four times in total."

"What happened exactly?"

"I don't really know to be honest," said Foster. "The agency took her back to the parents. But then she would come back again."

"The last time you saw her?"

"I made an amazing soup last night for dinner and since then I have not seen that poor girl," said Meredith in a motherly tone which made Castle squirm a little.

"When did you find out that she had gone missing?"

"This morning when she was supposed to make break…I mean she didn't come down for the delicious breakfast I had prepared for her."

"The night before. You just forgot to check up on your 'Gum drops'?"

"She's likes to keep to herself," said Foster hastily. "She didn't interfere with our business and we didn't either."

Castle pulled out the beer can and a smoke pipe from underneath the chair. "Yeah, I can see that." He pointed towards the window. "You might want to pop open a few windows. Let the smell of cocaine and reefer out."

"We have never done drugs," said Foster trying to hide the most obvious lie.

"We don't know how that got there," said Meredith. "Must have been one of the kids."

"Of course," Castle said sighing. These people were useless. "Has Kate made any contact with you since she run off?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"I have to ask. Did anyone want to harm her?"

For the first time Foster's actually looked believable as they looked at each other in surprise. Foster said, "Has something happened to her?"

"Answer the question. Did anyone want to hurt her? Did you see any suspicious people or cars?"

Foster said, "No, if they were I would know. I practically grew up in this neighborhood. Is she in trouble? Gangs?"

Meredith squeezed her husband's arm who winced under the pressure. "Are we in danger?"

Castle closed his notepad. "Maybe or maybe not. There's always the possibility. As you know some people just don't care who they hurt."

He rose from his chair and took out a baggie of cocaine from the underneath the seat cushion . "Word of advice. Don't sell your product from here. Pick some place more private."

Underneath the cushion lay even more baggies of coke, pipes, pills, and an assortment of various other drugs. The husband and wife eyed the items not saying a single word.

Castle exited the premises and walked down the street where he saw a woman, with a badge name Victoria Gates written on it, holding a yellow envelope in her left hand. Two officers followed behind her scanning the neighborhood for any activity.

"Are you heading towards the Foster's?" asked Castle.

"Yes I am and who might you be?"

"Just a person who wants to make sure that those two rot in prison."

The woman waved the envelope and said, "Today's your lucky days then. Let's go officers."

"Yes sir."

She walked on with the two officer's right behind her.

Castle steamed on ahead. His phone buzzed inside his pocket. The GPS tracking app was blinking.

Kate Beckett was on the move.

And Castle knew exactly she was heading.

* * *

Kate scaled up the drain pipe carefully and slipped through a window into her bedroom. She stepped on the floor gently listening for any voices. She heard nothing except for her own heartbeat. She was quite tense as her legs were shaking, sweat dripping from her forehead, her mind screaming to get away from this place she once called home. She didn't run. She wasn't a coward. She walked towards the stairs and went down with one hand on the wall for support. She reached the end of the stairwell, turned the corner, closed her eyes, and opened them.

It took everything she had in her to not scream.

Castle was standing there staring at her.

"I must say you know your way around," he said.

Her eyes scanned the room. He was the only one there apart from the broken down furniture.

"Looking for someone else?" he said taking small steps towards her.

She moved back.

"How did you get here?" she asked.

"I followed you."

"That's impossible."

"I thought you would know by now that nothing is impossible. If I am not wrong is this not your home?"

She didn't reply. She stared at him with fear and to her surprise with a hint of curiosity.

He looked around the room until he spotted a picture on the side table. He picked up the frame and studied it. "They are your parent's right? They look happy with you in the middle. I suppose those were the good times."

"Shut up. You don't know anything," snapped Kate.

"Ah, that's where you're wrong I am afraid. Some powerful people are after you. You're grave danger. These people have money, power, influence, and of course the muscle."

"How do you know that?"

"I know that because two murders have occurred here and they have been covered up."

Kate's eyes shot wide open. "How the hell do you know that?"

Castle gestured to the wall next to where she stood, "See the contrast from the old paint to the new one. Whoever did this covered that spot alone with the intention of covering it up." He pointed to the carpet underneath her. "The carpet was replaced as well. I assume that there used to be a square carpet in place. Hence proving the fact that someone took time to cover something up."

"It does not prove that a murder took place here. Anything could've happened here."

"'Anything' didn't happen here. If one takes the time to replace the carpet and paint a specific spot on the wall, it's their obvious intention to destroy any evidence that forensics might find. A cover up destroys any speck of blood, tissue matter, and other bodily fluids left behind after a murder. However they did miss a spot right behind that drawer. When you came here did you expect to find bodies? If there were any, you would know by the smell they would have been emitting. A smell like no other."

"It seems you know a lot about dead bodies," she said warily.

"Since I have hooked up with you. Bodies seem to drop everywhere I go."

"We're in no way hooked up in any way what so ever."

"I know you lived with your foster parents for nearly sixteen years. Calling them parents puts the word 'family' to shame."

"You've been snooping around my life and I really don't appreciate that."

"You should know that the city busted them," he said. "The other kids in the foster home have been safely transported to a safe place. And somehow I feel that had something to do with you."

The angry look she had on her face slowly faded. They were safe. The kids she had left behind at the foster home were now some place safer. Finally something had happened that warmed her heart. She had not failed them. She took a sigh of relief. "Those kids were innocent. They were treated horribly for most of their lives and deserved a place which they could call home. Everyone does."

"True. Tell me what happened here."

"Why should I?"

"I want to help you."

"Why?"

"They say a good deed goes a long way. And I think it's about time for me to become a Good Samaritan for once."

"Not many of those people left in this god forsaken world," she said.

"Your parents?"

"Not another word about my parents from you," she said harshly.

"Do you know how they died? Did you witness it? That would explain why you're on the run."

Kate backed away till she reached the wall. She looked to her right and saw an opportunity to run for it. She knew that he would anticipate it but she wasn't sure.

"Were they involved in something that would have led to both getting killed?" he asked. "Drugs?"

"They wouldn't resort to violence, maybe my mother but definitely not my father, and this is not about drugs."

"Just answer this. Were they killed?"

She didn't reply but instead gave him a quick nod of the head.

"Did you witness it?"

Another nod.

"You need to contact the police then."

"Think about it. If I go to the police, they would put me in the system again which would lead the men who are after me straight to me."

"The man you took down on the bus, was he one of them?"

"Could be."

"Kate I want you understand this carefully. If you want my help I want you to tell me what exactly happened here. I can get things done and last night is the perfect example of that."

Kate didn't know what to do. Should she trust this man? What if he was in league with the people who were after her? There were just too many variables that were going against her. They always were ever since her foster 'parents' had taken her in.

"The mother and child on TV, did you kill them? I need to know the truth if you want me to tell you everything I know."

"Think about it Kate. If I had killed them, which I didn't, why the hell would I be here trying to help you?"

She let out a breath and clutched her backpack straps tightly. "Swear it that you didn't kill them."

"I swear upon my child's grave that I didn't kill them. If you must know, I am working with the FBI trying to solve that murder." He then pulled out his badge and showed it to her.

Kate studied the badge carefully in hope of finding of something odd that would indicate it was a fake. She had seen one before and this one looked genuine. She said, "I guess you're who you say you are. The day before yesterday I ran away from the foster home and came here. I was in the hallway when I heard a stranger's voice from downstairs. At first I thought it was my parents but it was someone else and he wanted to know something that my parents knew. He seemed angry and pissed off at my parents. "

Castle took a step closer to her. "What exactly did he want to know? Can you remember what he was asking them?"

She looked down on the floor and screwed up her face trying to remember anything apart from the look on her father's face as he slid on the floor and her mother's scream. "He was asking them how they knew and what were they told. And then right after that….."

"Did he resort to violence?"

Kate couldn't hold it in anymore. It was just too much as a tear made its way down her cheek. "When I was upstairs I heard a gunshot. I was scared but still I ran down stairs. My….dad was on the wall with a bullet in him. There was blood everywhere. All over him. The man then pointed the gun at me, but just then my mom kicked him in the stomach and told me to run. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to help her. I did…but I just ran."

"Then I ran up the stairs and climbed out the window of my room. I was at the side of the house when I heard another shot. I didn't stop. I just ran like a coward. I ran knowing that my mother had just been shot. I just ran. I acted like a coward. I just left her in here to die a horrible death. I am pathetic, Castle."

She closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from falling but they just wouldn't stop. She was an emotional wreck. She heard a few steps and knew that he was right next to her. She opened her eyes to see Castle looking at her the way her mother did when she had a nightmare. It was a look that told her that everything was going to be alright and he was, she didn't know why, going to be beside her every step of the way.

"You're not a coward. You did what you were told and ran," he said. "If you would've stayed here it would have done no good. Your mother did something that I would've done in a heartbeat. She protected her child. She gave up her life so you could live to see another day. So therefore you did the right thing. You did what your mother wanted you to do. Live."

He took out a tissue packet and handed her some. She dried her eyes and sniffed.

"What's our next step?" she asked.

"The gunshots. Do you think anyone could've heard them?"

"I wouldn't get my hopes up. This neighborhood is pretty much empty. No one lives in the houses next to us. The duplex across the street is empty as well. Before the market crash this place was booming with life. But it's pretty much dead now. Most of the people lost their jobs and moved to different cities slowly."

"Your parents too?"

"They had been laid off too just like almost everyone I knew but found work almost nine months ago. My mother graduated college," she said proudly. "My dad was a nice man with a heart of gold." She looked down. "He just wasn't the man that many understood. He was quiet most of the times except when my mother and I were around him. He would just light up like a kid on Christmas. He just felt that nearly his entire life the world had been against him."

"May I ask what their names where?"

"Jim and Johanna Beckett."

"No relation to the oil tycoons, I presume?"

"If they were, I was never told."

He said, "Okay here's the plan. We find who killed your parents and why."

"The man on the bus is already dead."

"Tell me. Did you leave this house and run straight to the bus station?"

"Yes."

"That explains one thing."

"What?"

"He was not the only one involved. It would be virtually impossible for him to cover those bodies and clean up the entire place. Someone else is involved."

"But my parents were not important and they barely knew any people. Why them?"

"I ask again. Were they involved in any drug dealings or gangs?"

"If they ran a drug cartel do you honestly believe they would stay here?"

"No enemies then."

"I don't think so."

"Who employed your parents?"

"My dad worked at a local grocery store while my mother worked at the diner a couple of blocks from here."

"Did your dad meet up with your mom at the diner for lunch or dinner?"

"Both of us did. I spent countless hours at that diner with my mom. Why do you ask?"

"Info."

"Can we leave this place? Like right now. I feel kind of sick."

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"The place I am currently staying."

"Ah, i presume the place with the nice old lady at the front desk. Quite foolish of you to use Foster's credit card. The feds would know in a second where you are and can also bust you for that. However the Feds won't be your problem, the people who are after you could easily track you."

"How did you even…" she paused and looked at him accusingly. "I have cash."

"Save it for later."

"So the hotel is not safe. Where do I go now? And before you say the safe house. I am not stepping anywhere near that place. It's too far from the city."

"I knew you would say that. Come on pack your things I have a place where we can crash."

* * *

Castle waited until it was dark outside. He took her to a local diner where they could eat something. He had noticed from the very beginning how malnourished she looked and she ate her food without taking her eyes off the burger. He asked her questions and to his surprise she replied without a slightest bit of hesitation. She asked him questions which he answered truthfully but kept some information to himself as it would put her life in danger. He sugarcoated most of it like most people did on social networking websites like Facebook where some people literally told their whole life story. He noticed the way she asked her questions which reminded him of the time he was interrogated by the CIA; she would make a great cop or an agent.

Castle drove her to his neighborhood and did not stop in front of his building but across the street where his observation apartment was. It was a safe house that he used on a regular basis. It was a place where he would hide out for a couple days after he had completed a mission. This safe house, like the farm house, was a place that only Castle knew about.

They walked into the apartment, turned off the alarm and turned on the lights which illuminated a fully furnished loft. He looked to his right where Kate stood with her mouth half open in pure awe.

"You live here?"

"Sometimes," he replied.

"Are you rich?"

"I wish."

"This place screams wealth."

"Really?"

"C'mon Castle, a car and two homes. Considering the economy these days, you seem pretty loaded."

"Never thought of it that way." He had another house right across the street but he didn't tell her. She had enough on her plate and he wasn't really in the mood for chatter.

He gave her a short tour of the place explaining how the alarm system worked and then left her alone to look around. She was currently lost in his bookcase which was like most of his safe house's filled with books. A little while later with a paper back in one hand she went in the room that Castle had prepared for her. She dropped the backpack and a duffel bag which she had packed back at her house. She came out of the room and started examining objects that lay around the apartment.

"Why the telescope?" she asked.

"Stargazing. Helps me clear my thoughts."

"Liar."

He looked at her with a confused look.

"This is not a telescope you use for 'stargazing'. The angle is all wrong and the anatomical telescopes have certain lenses at the ends of it. This one seems to have been geared to ground surveillance."

Castle was stumped. How the hell did she know that? The information the woman had just unloaded on him could've only be known by top federal agent's not foster home inhabitants. Castle was utterly fascinated by this woman.

"You know an often lot about telescopes."

"Well, I read and I graduated high school you know."

"Fair enough. That telescope is for surveillance and to see whether I am being looked at."

"I have to ask. Are we going to be staying here together?" she asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"I am afraid not. I will be somewhere close by though."

"Dear god man, you have three places?" she said skeptically. "What exactly do you do for a living? Do they have any vacancies? I want to do it too."

"I think you've everything you need right now," he said scrimmaging through his jacket looking for the phone he had brought for her. "This is for you. No one can trace you on this one and I am on speed dial as well."

"How far will you be?" she asked quietly.

"I thought you would get nervous if we stayed together."

"Look Castle, half the men I have met in my life, have wanted one thing from me and that is something I wish to not talk about. You seem like a person one can trust and I," she paused. "I trust you."

"May I ask why?"

"Because apart from my parents I haven't met a single who has done things like you have for me. No one has put their life one on the line for me. No one has looked after me like you have. All those sixteen years in that shithole I kept wondering whether I deserved this and then you come along and treat me like I am your family. You've given me hope that good people still exist in this world."

Castle was left staring at her who looked back at him with a look he couldn't understand. He couldn't bring his mind around the fact that this woman trusted him with what he thought was her life. He figured whatever this woman had gone through back at the foster home was something neither of them were in the mood to talk about. He decided that it was time for him to dish out his plan to her.

"I have a proposition for you."

"What is it?"

"Before I state what it is. I have to ask you one thing."

She didn't say anything which Castle thought was her way of saying 'go ahead'.

"Do you want to know what happened to your parents?"

"Of course I do. Why the hell I am here then?"

"Even if it meant putting your life on the line?"

She pondered for a few seconds. "Yes."

Castle observed her as he looked for any signs of distress which would indicate that she was lying. But he found none. This woman was dead serious in finding the people responsible and that is exactly what Castle wanted. He took out her cred pack and tossed it to her.

She caught it with one hand and started examining the ID cards and various other documents that came along with it.

"What are these," she paused. "WHO THE HELL IS NIKKI HEAT? AND WHY IS MY PICTURE NEXT TO THIS WOMAN'S NAME?"

Castle tried his best not to laugh. He had expected this reaction from her and right now she had the look of pure fury written on her face.

"It's your new identity."

"My what?"

"Your new identity. You're going to be working with me on the Davenport murder case."

The look of fury was now replaced with confusion and disbelief. She looked at the ID card in her hand nd then locked eyes with Castle. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I think the murder of your parents and the Davenport murder may be connected." That was a lie and he hoped that she wouldn't spot it.

"How are they connected? My parents didn't even know these people."

"This case is still in its preliminary stages and the two of us meeting on the same exact bus cannot be a coincidence."

"It was a coincidence!"

"Look here Kate do you or do you not want to find the people behind your parents killing?"

"I do but…not like this."

"I don't see any other way."

"Castle I don't even have any training. I don't know the protocol the police follow. I wouldn't know what to do if my life is in danger. If I agree to this it would seem like opening a Pandora box which releases things that would likely put me six feet under the ground."

Castle expected all this and he had prepared for it too. He took out a disk from his jacket and put it down on the counter. "Kate, listen closely because I am going to say this once. I understand that you have your doubts I mean who wouldn't in your position. But frankly speaking I think you don't have to worry about the training bit. It's all in that disk and I know you're smart enough to master everything there is to know about your position. A man will come at this apartment two days from now to test you and personally I think you will ace it. If I didn't think you were capable, you wouldn't be standing here. You would be in a safe cell deep inside the CIA until the case was resolved. You have proved to me enough that you're good enough and can handle whatever life throws at you."

She looked at him with her mouth slightly open. He knew she wanted to retort but didn't. She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. "No one apart from my parents has said that many good things about me."

"Well, if you must know. I mean everything I say."

"If I step in there is no going back is there?"

He just stared at her.

"When do I start?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Wait. Why not tomorrow?"

"Because you need your rest for now and you need at least day with the training disk I prepared for you."

"There's no time for rest I'll start today."

Stubborn woman.

He rose from his chair and walked towards the door.

"Castle?"

He didn't around with his eyebrows raised.

"I just wanted to say thanks and I promise you that you won't regret making me your partner, you'll see."

"I have no doubt, Kate."

"I still hate the name though. It sounds like a stripper name."

"Not my department, Kate," he said with a smile.

He exited the apartment with his spirits considerably high. But he still had the gut feeling that he should be pursuing this alone. He didn't like the idea of another person he had now become quite accustomed to ride alongside him. He just couldn't face the idea of being responsible for more deaths. Especially hers.

* * *

It was a warm night with a few people still out on the streets. Couples walking with their arms locked while some hurried into taxis. He crossed the street towards his building with his mind still having trouble getting around the fact why was he helping this woman in the first place. In reality, there was no connection between her parent's murder and the Davenport's. It was bullshit that he had come with on the spot when he had confronted the man from his agency regarding the Davenport murder. She was a lovely woman, she was broken but there was something about her that made Castle act the way he is towards her. He thought maybe it was how intelligent she was even though she hadn't attended college. Her feminine physique may have something to do with it. Castle put that thought aside immediately. He couldn't look at her that way. It was unprofessional and it would probably cause her to lose whatever trust and faith she had in him. It had been a long time since someone had placed that much trust in him. Not since Kyra. She was the only, apart from his mother, person he had met that hadn't given up on him. He looked back up to the apartment Kate was living in. She may have gone inside by now but the image of her standing in the middle of the living room in an over sized sweatshirt and tennis shoes made him smile. Even when she wasn't with him and he thought of her, his mind would ease with all the tension it had been building up from the day.

He entered his apartment, checked the traps, changed out of his clothes, and went straight to bed. He wasn't going to the crime scene tomorrow. He wasn't comfortable investigating a case where he had been an eyewitness. The crime scene was fresh but he knew there were no prints and blood samples to be found. So He decided to wait for Kate to pass the test the agency had set up for her. He sincerely hoped that she would pass it because if she didn't. she would be on her own and out in the world where the big bad wolf was out to get her.

* * *

It was Monday.

The investigation had now officially begun. He got out of bed, took a scalding hot shower, and put on a suit with a no tie. He looked professional, like an agent from the agency should. He drank coffee and scrolled through various news sites for any information on the Davenport or the Beckett's murder case. There was still nothing on the Beckett's and the Davenport case was dormant but still on the front page. The crime scene awaited him. Not just the crime scene but his new partner as well. Kate had, just like he had told her, aced the test set up by the agency. He received an email from the agency which had no subject expect for two words.

_She's in. _

That meant she was in the clear to work with him but it also was a way for the agencies way of telling him that she had not just passed the test. She had destroyed it and was on par with him. This greatly impressed Castle and made him a little proud. He didn't know how to put it but he felt like a teacher whose student had aced the most difficult exam the school could muster. He exited the apartment and made sure the door was locked. He looked in the direction of Sophia's place and saw that she had already left for work.

He was in the elevator going down when he received a text from a number he knew was Kate's.

_I am at the crime scene. Be here in 15 minutes. _

Castle smirked. Passed a test and she thinks she's the boss now. He replied back to her.

_Aye Aye Captain._

The elevator doors slid open and he stepped out and walked towards the exit. His phone buzzed again.

_Shut up. What's your ETA? _

He couldn't stop the smile that formed on his face when he saw how she had mixed professionalism with everyday talk. He texted back.

_Give me 15 minutes and don't touch anything. _

She replied back instantly.

_I know. I am not that dumb old man. _

Old man? He looked at himself in the car window. The he slapped himself lightly. What was he doing? When had he become so concerned about how old he looked? This woman knew how to ruffle his manliness.

_I am driving right now. No texting while driving. I'll meet you there. _

_Alright, old man. _

He made a mental note to get back at her. He gunned his BMW and drove to the crime scene. Ten minutes later he arrived at the crime scene. There was security perimeter set up and he used his cred pack to pass through.

There was a pack of cops and men in black suits huddled in front of building entrance. The men in suits were probably the feds and the cops their henchmen. Castle walked towards the huddle hoping to introduced himself to the pack and familiarize with them. As he walked over the huddle began to split and from the middle emerged the woman he had not expected to be the center of things.

Kate stepped forward and gave him a quick nod.

"You clean up nice," she said.

"Same goes for you. So you're the boss here?" he asked with a smirk.

"I thought they would destroy me at first. Me being new and all. But it turns out they needed some direction and I fit that roll perfectly."

"Sounds wonderful and concerning at the same time."

"Why the concern?"

"Experienced feds and cops taking orders from a person who just passed the test. Shows what amazing leadership we have at the feds."

She looked annoyed with that comment. "Is it because I am a woman?"

"No, it's because you're a newbie."

He looked up to the apartment where he had been just a few days ago. "Shall we go up?"

She gestured to the entrance and walked behind him. They stepped in the elevator and rode up to the fourth floor. Finally the silence got to her.

"Do we any anything on the victim?"

Castle didn't take his eyes off the glowing floor buttons and pulled put a USB. "Everything we have on her is in here."

He handed her the USB and stepped off the elevator. "Go home tonight and read everything on her. Memorize everything on it."

There were a few uniforms standing outside the apartment door who stopped them asking for ID. Both of them flashed their badges simultaneously. Not even an hour had passed and they were already in sync acting like partners did with each other. Castle walked into the apartment but Kate stayed behind.

"Go down and give this to an agent by the name Sorenson. Tell him to memorize everything on it ASAP alright?" she said to one of the uniforms who took the USB from her and hurried off to the elevator.

"Made friends already?" he asked. "You trust him?"

"Not really on being friend's part. He was lead on this case until he received a call about us and was told not to interfering with our investigation. He was pissed as you can imagine so why not let him cool off with us being friendly with him?"

"Good move."

They went through the apartment looking at everything carefully in the living room. Castle noticed that the apartment was empty except for the two of them.

"The bus explosion was on the news again," she said breaking the eerie silence of the crime scene.

"Yeah I saw it on the news," he said. "FBI is on that one too."

"We're too."

"What?" he said shocked by this revelation. No one had told him that they were in charge of both the investigations.

"Apparently you didn't know about it either. Just before you came a man called me to pass along a message that we were in charge of both the investigations."

"You check the number on the phone?"

"It was blocked."

"Three cases at the same time. This just keeps getting better and better," he said getting more annoyed by the minute. He was somewhat glad that he had gotten all the cases but the he couldn't possibly handle three cases all his own with a partner who didn't have any experience in this field. Sleepless nights awaited him, he thought.

"Are you in the mood for more bad news?" she asked observing him carefully.

"Sure."

"I think they found your gun at the explosion site."

Castle kept staring at the drawing the kid had made of his family on the wall. On the outside he looked calm but his heart was thundering in his chest.

"I asked Agent Sorenson what he knew. He told me that they had found a gun at the explosion site and ran ballistics which matched the bullet they found in this apartment. Castle, they know the cases are connected. What do we do?"

"We keep calm. The ballistics report would be another dead end for them. I wore gloves the entire and I am not in the feds system under this name. They can't trace the gun either."

"Why? Every gun has a code and you could trace it to the origin and find out exactly where it has been."

"You can unless you have made the gun yourself. We," he paused. "I am safe for now."

Just then someone stepped in and the conversation between the two was put to a hold.

Frankly, he would take up the task of chasing a hundred insane Kuwaiti princes' over this any day of the week.

Shit had now _officially_ hit the fan for both of them.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the amazingly late update but i had to work on the article for National Geographic and had to make trip to London as well (i am on the team covering the Olympics for Time magazine :) It's an amazing opportunity and the photographers are, trust me, very talented and i am quite envious of them). I hope you like this chapter and don't be shy, pop in a review, it motivates and helps me to improve my writing as well. **

**Random Note: I saw The Amazing Spiderman and i absolutely loved it. I am a huge comic book fan and this movie lived up to my expectations. The chemistry between Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield was cute and it worked. Onto The Dark Knight Rises! which i am sure will kill me. **

**Eat brownies and be happy. **

**AfroSamurai98**


End file.
